I deliberately did not title these
by Zaraizabell
Summary: These are mostly just random one shots that I started. Some of them focus on my OC Blue Jay. A couple of them are actual stories about the Team. All of them at least reference the Team in some way. I titled them all "I deliberately did not title this (insert number here)' hence the title. I most likely won't continue any of them. Some of them have minor slash, hence the K plus. R
1. I deliberately did not title this 1

I slid through the shadows in Mount Justice. I was supposed to be in my room sleeping, but with Nightwing on a dangerous mission and it being the day of a certain anniversary, it was passed twelve, I couldn't sleep.

I wandered to the kitchen, thinking of making one of the things Dick usually would to comfort me. I wiped the tears from my eyes, hoping that the sunglasses would hide their presence. I entered the kitchen and started to make myself chocolate chip pancakes. Dick really was weird about comfort food, but I was just glad Beast Boy hadn't eaten all the chocolate chips.

I made way to many, as usual, but just left the remaining ones out after grabbing two or three off the stack. I heated up the maple syrup in the microwave and poured myself a glass of milk before sitting down on one of the bar stools. I saw the streak of yellow enter the room. He didn't notice me at first, but when he saw the still steaming pancakes, he turned on the light.

It took me a second to notice all he was wearing were pajama pants. Then another for me to see the scars. They covered a large part of his upper body. I was shocked for a moment.

Impulse said, "Sorry, I didn't know you were awake. Otherwise, I would have covered them up."

I said, "It's okay really. I see the same thing every time I look in a mirror."

He looked confused.

I stood up from my stool, and lifted my shirt just enough to reveal the mat of scars on my stomach, that a hero as young as me shouldn't have. I was thirteen. I had only gotten seriously injured in the line of duty three times. Impulse hadn't even gotten hurt bad enough to scar once. We both had scars we hid from everyone.

I put my shirt down and sat on the stool again. The anniversary of the first time always hit me hard. I wondered, if I had been better on that one day, would _she_ have hurt me all the other times? I still didn't have an answer.

Impulse grabbed the plate that had all the extra pancakes on it, and sat down across from me.

I revealed quietly, "Today is the anniversary of the first one."

Impulse said, "I remember my first one to." He was so much more serious then he usually was. Then again, I was to. Usually, I was faster to prank and smile than I was to mourn and frown.

Impulse asked, "How did you get yours?"

I said, "You first."

Impulse, no, he was Bart right then, out of costume, not faking happiness, said, "The future isn't as happy as I made it out to be. It was ruled by a tyrannical Blue Beatle. It was bad, and I got hurt a lot."

I said fighting back my tears, "I got my first one when I was three. I still don't know what I was doing wrong. _She_, my...my mom..._she_ hurt me. _She_ kept hurting me until I finally got away from _her_."

Bart's hand covered mine. I looked at his eyes. I had avoided looking into them since I lifted my shirt to reveal the scars. They seemed to shine a brighter green then usual. Like his predecessor, he flirted with all girls everywhere, but he never looked at them the way he was looking at me now.

I almost didn't catch that we were both leaning forward until our lips touched. It wasn't like those movie kisses where the actors look like they're trying to eat each other. It was slow and sweet, with no tongue involved. It brought my small, real smile to my face for the first time in weeks.

Bart was smiling to. He used his other hand to gently wipe the tears off of my face.

I said, "Thank you."

Bart smiled wider and said, "Anytime."

We talked for a while after that. Mostly, it was about the various scars that riddled our bodies. Some of it was more about the good experiences that had worked their way through the bad. When we left the kitchen around five in the morning, we both wore our usual smiling masks.

Bart went to bed. I went to the training room. Being a Bat, I was used to staying up for days with little to no sleep. I went straight to the uneven bars and started joyously flying. Usually, I approached this day with depression, fighting back painful memories, but talking to someone who understood the kind of pain I had gone through helped more than I had anticipated.

Batgirl came in at about six, surprised to see how happy I was on today of all days. She was obviously glad in my change in demeanor. She went over to one of the punching bags and began a sequence of kicks and punches that had been drilled into every Bats head by one mentor or another.

Robin came in not long after her. He had had to spend the night in Gotham, since his father was getting suspicious about how much time he was spending out of the house. He couldn't be hanging out with me all the time.

He asked me, "Blue Jay, will you spar with me?"

I easily dismounted with a quad and said, "Just let me get a drink first." I went over to the supply of water bottles sitting out and drained one of them. I wiped the sweat off my body with a towel and joined Robin in the sparring ring. We started fighting almost immediately. We were still fighting when the Team came in for an 'early morning' training session. It was eight by then.

Black Canary was leading them. She wasn't the Team's trainer any more, but all the Leaguers taught the Team at some point or another. Robin and I weren't trying very hard to beat each other, and we were both trying out moves to see if they would actually work in combat.

I suggested quietly to Robin, "Want to show them what we can really do?"

Robin said slightly unsure, "I guess so." He was still the one to start a more aggressive attack.

We were moving faster, dodging better, and hitting harder. The first hit either of us landed would be the winning move. I cartwheeled over a series of kicks and punches, and managed to get behind Robin. I did a leg sweep, which brought him to the floor.

The computerized voice announced, "Robin: Fail."

I offered him a hand up, and he gladly took it. We both left the ring to get water bottles.

Black Canary called, "You three will be expected to participate in this training exercise."

I drained two water bottles before going to join the Team in the exercise. Robin and Batgirl weren't far behind me.

Black Canary said, "Alright, this is a silent movement drill. The goal is to stay out of the light for as long as possible. The person who lasts the longest gets a special prize. Enter the simulation room and we'll begin."

I smiled brightly. I had done this particular simulation on it's hardest setting and declared it boring. Hopefully, doing it with the Team would make it more interesting.


	2. I deliberately did not title this 2

Blue Jay stared at Wonder Woman with fear in her eyes as the sedative took hold. Nightwing knew she bared a striking resemblance to someone that had tortured Zara most of her life.

"We need to discuss this now," Wonder Woman said when the sedatives had finally forced Blue Jay to pass out.

Nightwing said, "I know." It had to be on one of their meeting nights that Blue Jay was hurt bad enough to need league assistance. He was reluctant to leave his charge, but the look in Wonder Woman's eye was enough to convince him. He turned to Batgirl and asked, "You'll stay with her?"

Batgirl said, "Of course. Just be sure to call me if you need help in there."

Nightwing nodded once and followed Wonder Woman to the conference hall.

The whole League was already assembled for their meeting night. Even Batman had come to this particular meeting.

Wonder Woman sat down in her seat. Nightwing took one of the guest chairs.

Wonder Woman said, "For those of you that did not witness it, Nightwing brought in a very girl seriously injured in hero garb, asking that we treat her injuries."

Many of the members gasped at this. Nightwing hadn't told any of them about Blue Jay. Flash only knew because she had saved his life while he was helping with one of his rouges showing up in Blüdhaven. Batman had known because he had assisted Nightwing in training her.

Superman asked first, "Who is she?"

Nightwing took a deep breath and said, "Her name is Blue Jay. She's been my protege for six months."

Wonder Woman asked, "What happened to her?"

Nightwing said, "Joker showed up in Blüdhaven. I got knocked out, and she probably saved my life by trying to fight him off."

Superman asked, "Why was she so afraid of Wonder Woman?"

Nightwing tried to think of a way around answering the question. Blue Jay's back story should be her own to tell. Batman had given him that right. Blue Jay should get the same. He said, "It has to do with a previous traumatic experience."

Wonder Woman said, "Nightwing, you have to tell us more."

Nightwing glared at her. It was an expression not often seen on the man's face. He was usually smiling, joking, and generally caring on. Seeing him glare frightened the League. It was so Batman, that some of them looked at the dark knight to see if he had the same reaction. Wonder Woman shrunk a little on the man's glare, unexpected as it was.

Wonder Woman changed her question, "How old is she?"

Nightwing said, "A little younger than me when I started."

Some of the Leaguers looked at each other in shock. To their knowledge, Nightwing had been the youngest person to join the hero business. He had only been nine when Batman had started taking him out every night. This Blue Jay being even younger made them question his sanity.

Superman asked, "How could you endanger someone so young?"

Nightwing shrugged and said, "She could probably beat most of you if she wasn't sedated right now." That made him remember how she had still stopped five crimes after fighting off the Joker. She had almost attacked Wonder Woman and would have if not for him holding her down.

Wonder Woman turned to Batman and demanded, "Did you know about this?"

Batman said bluntly, "Yes, and if I didn't think Blue Jay could handle herself, I would have personally insured that she didn't go out at night."

Green Arrow said, "We all know the Bats don't get let out of the house until they could take down most anyone. Why are we continuing this line of questioning?"

Wonder Woman said, "You may not have been here, but when the League found out about the first Robin, we had a similar discussion. We will decide now if this Blue Jay should be allowed to stay with Nightwing."

Flash said, "The girl saved my life last time I was in Blüdhaven. Nightwing didn't even find out I was there until she reported she had saved me. She even freaked out the villain while she did it. I had a hard time keeping my eyes on her with my inferred scanner."

Wonder Woman asked, "Is she your daughter?"

Nightwing said, "Not biologically."

The inevitable follow up question, "What happened to her parents?"

Nightwing said, "Part of that traumatic experience I mentioned." He glared at her again, letting her know that was an unacceptable line of questioning to continue.

Black Canary asked, "Nightwing, why didn't you tell us about her?"

Nightwing said, "She has a hard time trusting people." It wasn't people really. Just a large percentage of adult women, especially since her gymnastics teacher had revealed her true allegiance. Barb was one of the few she liked. She barely tolerated most others. Adult women that he knew would try to mother her would be viewed as threats, especially Wonder Woman.

The door opened, and Batgirl came running in. Nightwing immediately rushed out the door towards the medical bay with Batgirl following closely behind him.

Blue Jay seemed to be panicking. The sight of her mentor calmed her a little, but it was obvious that she was still afraid. She seemed disoriented. She kept talking in what sounded like Romanian to Nightwing, so no one outside the batfamily would understand what she was saying.

She said, "Am văzut-o când m-ai sedat. De ce este ea aici?" (I saw her when you sedated me. Why is she here?)

Nightwing replied, "Nu e chiar ea. Ea doar arată ca ea. Ea nu te va răni. Nu voi lăsa pe nimeni să-ți facă rău aici." (It's not really her. She only looks like her. She won't hurt you. You are safe. I won't let anyone hurt you here.)

That seemed to calm her down a bit.

The IV that had been sticking into Blue Jay's arm was now dripping on the floor. She was resistant to sedatives, so it was no surprise that it hadn't kept her out for long. Just long enough for the stitches to get put in.

Wonder Woman came in moments later. Before she could say a word, Blue Jay disappeared into what little shadows the medical bay had to offer. If they had been any deeper, even Batman couldn't have found her. As it was, Wonder Woman couldn't see where she had gone.

Nightwing said, "It's better if you leave. You look to much like someone she once knew."

Wonder Woman asked, "Who Nightwing? Who could traumatize this 'Blue Jay' so much that she can't stand to even see me?"

Nightwing said, "That's not my story to tell." He saw Blue Jay slide into his shadow unseen by the Amazonian. She wouldn't let the Amazonian princess catch sight of her if she could help it.

Batgirl said, "Just leave it. Nightwing is a good mentor. He learned from the best." Both glared at the princess daring her to disagree.

Wonder Woman huffed and left the medical bay. She walked right by Nightwing's shadow but didn't notice the small girl hidden there. When she was gone, Blue Jay slid out of Nightwing's shadow, hugging him tightly.

She said, "Nu mă lăsa." (Don't leave me.)

Nightwing replied, "Nu voi pasărea mea. Eu nu voi face." (I won't my bird. I won't.)

Wonder Woman went back into the League meeting. She asked Superman, "Did you hear anything?"

Superman said, "They were both speaking a foreign language."

Batman gave the barest hint of a nod. The youngest bird was almost as paranoid as he was.

Wonder Woman said, "I barely managed to catch a glimpse of Blue Jay before she disappeared."

Batman had expected this. He had seen the woman that had tormented his surrogate granddaughter for a large part of her childhood. He had seen a couple of the scars Blue Jay had acquired from her, the worst of which was a line that went almost all the way down her back. He had helped to treat it when she finally revealed the festering wound. It had taken weeks for it to heal properly.

Flash said, "That's to be expected. I mean, think of the time we tried to play hide and seek with Robin." It had taken Batman's arrival to draw out the young boy.

Superman said, "I believe we have collected all of the information we will get on the subject."

Each member of the League carefully recorded their votes in the program set up to allow them to vote anonymously. (I mean do you really think the League wouldn't come to the realization that some people vote the same as others as it is in the show)

Wonder Woman read the results, "the majority voted for Blue Jay to stay with Nightwing unless other information is brought forward." No one saw Batman leave. It took him seconds to reach the medical bay to give his son the news. He was greeted by the sight of Blue Jay sleeping in her mentor's arms.

Few people understood the bond that had formed between Batman and the first Robin. Nightwing now, but that bond was still there. Nightwing had managed to find a girl that needed that bond just as much as he had when he was Robin. He was there to provide it for her as best he could.

He looked hopefully at his former mentor, asking the question he was unwilling to actually voice.

Batman said, "They voted in favor of you staying together."

Nightwing nodded once and hugged the girl in his arms closer to his chest. Anything else would have turned both against the League, just as it would have if they had voted in favor of Batman and Robin being separated.

The Bats were an enemy the League couldn't deal with. They had a hard enough time stopping them during the rare instances they were mind controlled. If they ever willingly turned, than the League would be put to an end.


	3. I deliberately did not title this 3

I groaned in annoyance. Usually, I didn't have to go to these stupid galas, but Dick insisted that I had to go to this one. I had begged to be aloud to invite someone special, but half the reason I was being forced to go to this stupid party was because I had spent to much time with him.

I forced a smile onto my face as the group of boys came over. One of them asked me to dance. We went onto the dance floor. He was clumsy. I was forced to lead for the entire song.

At the end of it, someone tapped my partner's shoulder and asked, "May I cut in." I couldn't help, but smile impishly at the speedster that had somehow managed to get into the party. It was probably Tim's work. Thankfully, my partner left willingly.

I didn't have to dumb down my fancy waltz for Bart. He was fast enough to catch on quickly. It probably helped that we had danced together before, when I had snuck into his school's costume ball. Then again when he had slipped into Gotham Academy's masquerade. At both we had earned applause for our performance. I had blushed deeply, wishing I could slip into the shadows, but Bart had made me stay in the light. I had kind of learned to enjoy it.

A circle was quickly forming around us. I could see Dick shooting glares at Tim, who was smartly keeping as many people as he could between them. Bruce was standing to one side, Selena on his arm. She smiled encouragingly. Bruce was watching Dick shoot glares at Tim with growing amusement. Barb was trying to make sure Dick didn't kill Tim. I barely managed to observe all of this as our dance grew in difficulty.

I easily kept up with Bart. Everyone else could only watch as our moves became harder and more complex. If Dick had thought of it, he probably would have joined the floor with Barb to try to get us to stop. Tim was probably trying to convince Steph to dance with him. She would probably say they would embarrass themselves compared to Bart and I.

Our dance ended with Bart dipping me low. He pulled me in, and we kissed. Dick would probably make me wax his bikes for weeks, but it was worth it.

We pulled apart for air, and Bart smiled brightly at me. I returned the look. I could almost hear Dick sighing in defeat as the room broke out in applause. He would still punish me, but he couldn't do it now.

I smile brightly back at Bart. I said, "I'm glad you came."

He said, "Tim called. Said something about you killing bad dancers everywhere if I didn't show up soon. Just be glad Wally kept the tux he wore when he was my size, or I wouldn't have been able to get in."

I said, "I'll be sure to thank him." I leaned in and kissed him again, sweeter this time, slower. The crowd had begun to move back in on the circle, but we were still in our own little world. We pulled apart again for air.

Bart gasped, "I think I'll thank him another million times."

I smiled. Our foreheads were pressed together. I was aware of Dick coming up behind me. I could feel the temperature drop as he glared at Bart. Over protective father syndrome was only handy when you were being assaulted by a villain that was going to kill you. It was not helpful when you were trying to have a moment with your boyfriend.

Bart said, "I thing your dad is going to kill me."

I said, "Not if he wants me to ever show up at one of these again. Besides, this almost solidifies my SI. I mean no one would think BJ is an amazing ballroom dancer."

Bart said, "I'm pretty sure that's not what he's thinking. I think his glare might kill me."

I said, "Just be glad he can't batglare you in public, since it's been proven to cause paralysis of everyone in its presence except for fellow bats."

Bart said, "yeah, I'm pretty sure it would give some of the people here heart attacks."

We both smiled at that, only then pulling apart.

Dick was still glaring at Bart. I shot him a return glare like, 'if you ruin this moment I will tell Barb about the time that...' I had so much black mail on him from being his protege I could let him fill in the blank.

He shook his head at me, a warning I would get punished later, and walked away.

Bart asked, "Did you just win a glaring contest?"

I said, "Actually, I think it was a black mail contest. The stuff I've got on him is one hundred times better than the pictures of me helping out at Blüdhaven Animal Shelter."

Bart said, "I think I need to see those."

I rolled my eyes and said, "They're not that great. Most of them were pulled directly from the security footage, so they're grainy. The few he actually took were just of me playing with kittens."

Bart said, "Still..." he was about to continue, but I cut him off with a kiss.

I said, "You talk to much."

He nodded in agreement, and we kissed again.

Tim and Steph came over a little while later.

Tim said, "You owe me big."

I said, "Only if Dick doesn't kill you before I pay you back."

Steph said, "Maybe you should pay him back by preventing his death."

I asked, "Where would be the fun in that?"

Bart said, "Foiling Dick's revenge scheme would probably save my life as well."

I sighed and said, "I guess I might save Tim's life, though watching Dick take him down could be fun. Besides, I took him down more than enough times when he first became Robin."

Tim said, "Yes you did. In fact, you gave me scars."

Bart and I both exchanged a glance at the last word. We both had enough scars for an entire army.

Steph said, "Your both really good at dancing. Where did you learn?"

I said, "It was sort of a requirement for my gymnastics class."

Bart said, "I had to take a class on it in school." It was more than that, but he didn't explain that dancing like we just had had been a small rebellion against the future's dictator. That would have been talking about his secret identity while he was amongst civilians. Besides, it wasn't something he liked to talk about.

He had told me after the first time we had danced together. We had both been unwilling to show off the extent of our knowledge on the subject, but as we noticed we were as good as each other, we started doing more complex moves. We had told each other the reasons we had learned how to dance. It became one of our favorite things to do together.

Tim said, "Speaking of which, it'll be harder for Dick to death glare moving targets." He swept Steph onto the floor. She went unwillingly at first but gained confidence as she realized all she had to do was follow his lead.

Bart and I went back onto the floor, but we didn't dance as fancily as before. I saw Selena and Bruce dancing nearby. Selena winked at me. I smiled back. I had a feeling she had somehow given Tim the idea to call Bart.

Bart twirled me around. I smiled at him and he smiled back. Of course, tomorrow I would have a fleet of motorcycles to wax. Bart would have to guard his life carefully for the next few weeks. Tim would have to avoid Nightwing and Dick as best he could. Selena might talk to Dick on our behalves, but we would be punished. At least we had now together.


	4. I deliberately did not title this 4

Nightwing called, "Team, debrief room NOW!"

The whole Team could hear the urgency in his voice. They rushed to debrief. Batgirl was already there, pulling up pictures of Infinity Island and a girl none of them had seen before.

Batgirl said while they were waiting for Nightwing, "This is Wraith. She's been on an undercover mission on Infinity Island for the past two months. Yesterday was supposed to be her rendezvous. She missed it. She said she was bringing something more important than anything else she had ever brought. She hasn't reported in in the last twenty four hours. Our mission will be to find her and the information she was bringing us."

Nightwing and Robin came in. Nightwing said, "Alpha will be Batgirl, Robin, and I. We'll go into the base on infinity island. It's possible that Wraith managed to escape into the forest surrounding it though, so beta will be Impulse, Blue Beatle, Bumblebee, and Superboy. Keep heat vision on. You won't be able to see her otherwise. Gama will be Ms. Martian, Lagoon Boy, Guardian, and Wonder Girl. You'll be flying Sphere and the Bioship around the island, so you can pick up whoever finds her or provide necessary back up. Move out."

The Team swiftly rushed to Sphere or the Bioship. They had heard the urgency in Nightwing's voice. It took half the time it usually did for them to get to Infinity Island. It took even less time for the three Bats to disappear in side the massive complex.

I took a deep breath. I knew I was a day late for rendezvous. This was to important for me to leave behind though. I knew the Team had gotten onto the island, and that Nightwing, Robin, and Batgirl had come into the complex. I just had to get to them before they all got themselves captured. It wasn't my fault my radio had run out of batteries the day before.

I slid fluidly through the shadows. I shook the young boy's shoulder. He had agreed to come with me in exchange for being able to see his father. He was the reason I had had to stay an extra day with the League of Rainbows, as I loved referring to them. He got out of bed blearily and attempted to follow my ghost like movements through the shadows. He was to tired to remain perfectly silent, but it was good enough to sneak passed the League of Rainbow guards. Unfortunately, the Team set off the alarm.

I said to Damian, "We're going to have to get them out. They're our ride out of here. Alright?"

He nodded, to tired to insult them for getting caught.

I led him towards the room I knew R'as would have them brought to. He followed, slowly waking up enough to be quieter.

I pulled out my can of spray paint. I had figured out how to make it silent my first week on Infinity Island. I slid into the room, and motioned for Damian to stay where he was. He followed my request.

The entire team had been captured. They had encased each of the Bats' arms up to their elbow, so they couldn't pick the locks. The rest were just chained up with inhibitor collars.

R'as asked Nightwing, "What brings you all to my lovely home?"

I smiled and took the opportunity to paint on the wall behind him.

R'as continued, "Maybe your here to take that annoying trickster away that has been messing with my operations for the last two months. I was under the impression she was supposed to leave yesterday." I finished my painting and threw a bird-a-rang at one of the lights, causing it to tilt enough for everyone to clearly see the wall behind R'as.

It read multiple times over in ever color of spray paint I had left, "The League of Rainbows!" There were also several smiley faces and rainbows.

Most of the Team started laughing. I had already hid in a different set of shadows. R'as didn't see me slide into the one the Bats had managed to form by sliding close together.

I whispered to Nightwing, "I think your supposed to be saving my life right now, not the other way around." I picked through the locks on all three sets of handcuffs, though they held them shut for the time being.

R'as said, "Come out little girl, or I'll kill your mentor and his little Team."

I projected my voice, making it bounce off of all the walls, "I don't think you will. See, if you do that, Batman wouldn't hesitate to stop the League of Rainbows once and for all. I mean really, I've lived on your island in one of the spare rooms for the past two months, and you couldn't find me. I bet Batman and I can do even better if you kill my friends."

Everyone looked around, trying to find where my voice came from. Even those League of Shadows members with heat vision couldn't find me. I was that good at hiding in the shadows.

The Team seemed to be trying to figure out who my mentor was that he was referring to. It was blatantly obvious to anyone with a brain to figure it out.

I slid among the guards, spray painting letters on their chests, stealing their weapons, and replacing them with plastic water guns. It was generally great. When I was done, I slid out of the shadows.

Streams of water shot at me, immediately drenching all but me and the prisoners. I smiled at the great joke and said, "See, after rain comes a Rainbow."

R'as glared at me. I glared back my best impression of the batglare. He looked away first, which I considered a success.

His men tried to hand to hand combat me. I disappeared, reappearing only to take them down. That was when Talia came in with a knife under Damian's chin. She would kill him. I knew she wouldn't hesitate. He was her son, but all she cared about was making me stop.

I had a bird-a-rang in my hand. I could knock the knife out of her hand before it sliced his throat, but I couldn't remove the trauma of having your own mother threaten your life to stop her enemy. I could only empathize.

Talia commanded, "Stop or I'll kill him." The bird-a-rang plunged into her hand. I used the black cape that I had included in my Wraith costume to enclose Damian and pull him back into the shadows. We disappeared immediately. Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin let their cuffs open now, and took down Talia and R'as.

I asked Damian, "Are you okay?"

He said, "I'm fine. Release me now Wraith." I was one of the few people he didn't call by their last name. It helped that he didn't know mine, but when we had first met he had called me 'no name', so Wraith was an improvement, though it wasn't even my usual hero identity.

I let him get out of my cape. Batgirl and Robin tied up all the assassins I had taken down, though there wasn't a government in the world that would be able to keep them in prison. We would just leave them tied up.

I stayed next to Damian, insuring that he remained safe. I had given him some dark sunglasses. He needed to hide his identity from the Team for the time being. I knew he wanted to meet Batman bad enough to agree to wear them.

Nightwing avoided me for the time being. I knew why. This wasn't the time or the place for us to have our reunion. Besides, it wouldn't feel right with the wrong mask, costume, and a cape. I was feeling uncomfortable for once in the altered costume. We had changed it to better allow me to hide in the shadows, but I had never liked black. I would feel much better when I went out in my usual costume once more.

I heard the batwing approaching. All Bats learned to recognize the sound of it's approach with in a mile of it. No matter how 'sound proof' the room or building they're in claims to be.

Damian touched his ear. He could hear the high pitched engine as well. It took some getting used to the slight pain it could cause. It was keyed to be just low enough for us to hear, but high enough that most people would mistake it for an electronic. We Bats knew better. Damian would learn to know better.

I led the Team to the exit closest to the Bioship, Sphere, and the Batwing. The Team were somewhat surprised to see the third vehicle. I knew Batman would no doubt have sent it without him. Damian would have to wait another couple hours before meeting him.

I easily leaped into the batwing, turning a quad before landing inside. Damian followed me. Nightwing didn't question why he was there. Batgirl and Robin followed suit. We immediately diverged from the Team's vehicles. The batcave and Mount Justice were in different directions. It took less than an hour for us to get there.

As soon as we landed, I hopped out of the batwing and ripped off the mask that I hadn't removed in two months. It felt good not to be looking through lenses anymore. I took the cape off as well and went to the locker room. I changed into my usual dark navy Kevlar, leaving my mask off so Damian would recognize me. It still smelled freshly washed. Alfred's doing no doubt. I hung up my Wraith costume, hoping I wouldn't have to use it until next year.

I heard a commotion going on in the main part of the cave. That meant Damian had taken off those sunglasses and they had seen his eyes. They looked so much like Bruce's it was impossible not to realize they were related.

I went back into the main part of the cave. Damian was glaring at everyone.

I walked over to him and mussed his hair. His glare softened a tiny bit when he saw it was me. I had protected him from Talia enough for him to like me as much as he liked anyone.

I said to my fellow Bats, "This is Damian Wayne. His mother is Talia. It happened during those missing sixteen hours."

Nightwing said, "This is why you stayed behind an extra day."

It was a statement, not a question. I nodded anyway.

Damian tried to straighten his hair from me messing it up.

The rest pulled off their masks. Damian was witnessing a rare sight. We only did something like this with people we trusted. Nightwing was trusting my judgment in this. That put the responsibility on my shoulders if Damian betrayed us.

I didn't let this phase me. There was a reason I was trusting Damian. I knew he was good in his heart of hearts. I had prevented his mother from making him kill someone this year. He had been doing it once a year since he was five, but I had made sure that this year he didn't have to choose between his life and someone else. Someone he didn't even know, who's life was handed to him.

He would die if he didn't kill them. I had seen the pain of having to kill someone as he raised his sword up. It had taken three smoke guns, ten bird-a-rangs and my remaining supply of knock out gas, but I had saved the man and Damian in one go. Talia was going to bring him another subject when I was caught or disappeared. I took Damian out of the equation.


	5. I deliberately did not title this 5

Nightwing couldn't believe that had just happened. Batman had disappeared in Cuba after saving millions of people from a tsunami. Now, here was Superman, trying to tell him he wasn't allowed to go after his mentor, his legal guardian, his father. Alfred was in England. That meant everyone that was legally able to tell Nightwing 'no' was gone.

The man of steel had stupidly put himself between Nightwing and the exit. He didn't even know that Batman had made Nightwing add the lump of glowing green rock to his utility belt, since he had joined the Team with Superboy. It took seconds for the Boy Wonder to take him down with the rock in his grip. Kryptonite was only half of what knocked him out. The other half was Nightwing beating him up.

The Boy Wonder left the Kryptonian lying in a heap in the door way. He wasn't even breathing hard. He tossed the various tracers that the League had attempted to subtly put on him in a heap on the man of steel's chest. Nightwing's League and Team communicators topped the pile.

He was going rouge, at least until he found Batman. It was a month later the news report came in that the Dark Knight was found dead in a warehouse in France. It was less than a week later that reports of a second Batman came in.

The Team were sent to gather information on Gotham's new vigilante. They had barely left the bioship when they were met by the much shorter figure of the new Batman. The costume wasn't exactly the same. The bat-a-rangs he launched at them were though. Each hit their mark, warning shots fired at all but the archer of the group.

He growled, "No metahumans allowed in Gotham."

After a quick consultation through their mental link, Kaldur proposed, "Allow Artemis to stay. We will be nearby in the bioship in case she needs back up."

The new Batman nodded once in acceptance of this plan. The five metahumans got back into the bioship quickly.

Artemis asked, "What gives you the right to be Batman?"

The new Batman replied, "I'm his heir. It seemed only right I take up the mantle."

Artemis said, "Nightwing was his heir."

The new Batman said, "Now your getting it." Than he threw himself off the roof. Nightwing would have offered a whoop of excitement, but he didn't now. The new Batman disappeared from where Artemis had thought he would land. The Team knew they wouldn't find their previous member unless he wanted to be found. Besides, he had warned them once about metahumans in Gotham.

The Justice League didn't believe the Team's assessment that the new Batman was Nightwing. They didn't believe that the young bird would continue the hero business after his adoptive father had died. They didn't want to think about the seventeen year old fighting in a city like Gotham by himself.

Superman was the next to go to Gotham. They were hoping he would be able to see through the new Batman's mask and tell them once and for all if this was indeed Nightwing, or if it was an imposter claiming to be him.

He landed on top of Wayne Enterprises. It was seconds later that a bat-a-rang, glowing slightly green, hit a spot right next to his right ear.

The new Batman growled from the shadows, "I told the last group, no metahumans in Gotham. Just because my mentor isn't here anymore doesn't mean that rule goes away."

Superman said, "I don't believe you. You can't be Nightwing."

The new Batman stepped out of the shadows and said, "That's because you believed the lies. You really think someone that grows up in Gotham can really be that happy all the time? It was a lie. A security blanket that I don't need anymore. Now, I suggest you leave," he growled this next part, "before I have to make you again."

It was a well kept secret that Nightwing had taken down the man of steel as he had left the Watch Tower the day Batman had gone missing. The fact that this man knew it, left Superman with no doubt that he was Nightwing. He still attempted to use his X-ray vision on his cowled face.

Superman asked, "Is the lead in your cowl really necessary?"

Batman answered, "It is if I want to keep you guessing. The League won't believe you on your word. It's more entertaining this way." A tiny bit of the old Nightwing showed through in this statement. He didn't smile though. Nightwing was always smiling. Superman couldn't help but think maybe Nightwing's previous happy-go-lucky attitude had been a facade.

Then Batman growled, "Leave, before one of these bat-a-rangs goes through your arm."

Superman followed this command.

The new Batman was correct in his prediction. The League still didn't believe that this new Batman was their Nightwing. The next to go meet him was Green Arrow and Black Canary. They had heard about his no metahumans rule, and hoped he would disregard Black Canary as such, proving he wasn't their Nightwing.

Just outside of Gotham, Black Canary was pinned to one of the small houses by bat-a-rangs catching the small edges of her clothes. Not a drop of her blood was spilled, but she was effectively pinned.

The new Batman came out of the shadows and said, "I told you, no metahumans."

Green Arrow held his hands up in the universal sign of surrender and said, "Alright, let me free her, and she can go home."

The new Batman nodded once and put the bat-a-rang he had been holding threateningly in the air back into his utility belt. He kept a constant vigil of Green Arrow gently removing the bat-a-rangs from his girlfriend's clothes. She left willingly.

The new Batman than began to move back towards his city. Green Arrow had a hard time keeping up with the new Batman's ease as he moved through his city. It was when he saw the new Batman do a quad that he was convinced. He called J'on to pick him up and reported his findings back to the League.

The League still didn't want to believe that their little Dicky had taken up the mantle of the most feared member of the League and had, thus far, acted as cold as him.

A week later, they were forced to face facts. The Zeta Beam announced, "Nightwing B01." Instead of Nightwing, they were met by the new Batman. He went over to the computer, and inserted a flash drive. The flash drive had information about Lex Luther providing money to several minor villains in almost all the cities protected by any member of the Justice League, including Gotham. He stopped at the computer long enough to reprogram it to recognize him as Batman. Then, just as quickly as he had come, he left.

It was less than a month later that the Justice League saw the news report. The headline read, "New Female Robin Spotted in Gotham."

The League had to have a reaction. They had already had several questions about the newest Robin from the press. The new Batman had made it quite clear that he would keep to his predecessor's no meta-humans rule. As a result, Clark Kent called Richard Grayson-Wayne for an interview. He was glad that the young man agreed.

Richard, Dick, Grayson-Wayne sat behind what had once been his father's desk. It hadn't changed much in that time, though it now had several college text books and a few sheets of homework on its surface. They talked for a little while about Wayne Enterprises. Dick seemed distracted. He kept glancing at the clock.

At exactly three thirty, Clark heard the front door open. He couldn't hear foot steps, but he heard a heart beat approaching. It sounded young. The door to the study opened, and a young girl with long black hair came in. She stared at Clark for a second, before coming the rest of the way into the room.

She walked over to Dick and said, "I need help with my math word problems. They don't make any sense."

Dick smiled and said, "Alright Zara. We can take a look at them as soon as I'm done talking to Mr. Kent."

Clark realized that was the first time he had seen him smile since he had told him Bruce had gone missing.

Zara smiled brightly. She said, "Thanks daddy." Then she left as abruptly as she had come. Clark could hear Alfred offering the girl some of his world famous cookies.

Dick's smile fell off his face once again as he waited for Clark to speak.

Clark asked, "Is she?"

Dick said, "Yes, she's the new Robin."

Clark said, "She looked young."

Dick said, "She is a few years younger than I was when I started. She's better than I was though. I bet even you can't hear her walking. She's very good at silent movement." The look of pride that came into his face was so much like Bruce that Clark had to suppress a grin.

Dick said, "She's also much better at following orders than I ever was."

Clark said, "She seems to have you wrapped around her little finger." If anyone had dared made that comment to the original Batman, they would have been knocked out and sent into space with a week long orbit around the world before getting into the Watch Tower's sensors.

Dick just smiled and said, "I'm pretty sure I ruled the Watch Tower with the same pleading look. It's a bit disconcerting having it turned on me."

Clark said, "Now you understand how the rest of us felt when you were close to that age. How old is she?"

Dick said, "She's seven."

Clark raised an eyebrow. Dick had been nine when he had first become Robin. The second and third had started even older. Then again, Bruce had been much older when he had started being Batman.

Dick said, "I assume she's the reason you came."

Clark said, "The League has been asked about the latest Batman and Robin several times. We've been asked if and when you'll be joining the League."

Dick sighed and said, "I'm not sure if I'm ready to join the League. Gotham is still out of control."

Clark pointed out, "Has Gotham ever been in control?"

Dick said, "I see your point, but it seems silly to me that I have to be inducted into the League. How many of them even know that it's me behind the mask?"

Clark said, "Only the remaining founders. The rest think your one of his many contingency plans in case of this event."

Dick's head dropped for a moment. No tears fell, but they threatened to. He managed to say in a clear voice, "Alright, you can announce my joining the League at your next press conference. It's what he would have wanted. I'll probably have to leave Zara at the Watch Tower while I go on missions though. Alfred isn't getting any younger."

Clark said, "I'm sure there are a variety of young heroes that would love to help. There are quite a few girls on the Young Justice Team that love young children."

Dick nodded and said, "If you will excuse me, there's a young girl standing outside my door that said she needed help with her word problems."

A bell like giggle proved him right. Clark had only recently managed to get used to Bats he could barely hear coming. This one would certainly present new challenges. The two men stood up and shook hands.

The moment Clark took a step towards the door, it swung outwards.

Zara asked, "Can you really fly?" She looked hopefully towards the man of steel.

Clark said, "Yes."

The girl's eyes filled with wonder. She said, "I can kind of fly, so can daddy, but you can fly for real."

Clark looked at Dick for an exclamation. He remembered Dick saying something close to that the first time they had met.

Dick just shook his head.

Zara ran past Clark, flipped over her father's desk, and landed soundlessly in his lap. Clark marveled at the feat. Sure, the Bats were all good with silent movement, but this girl was better than the others.

A week later, Batman joined the Justice League. It was a couple of days before he got his first mission.

Just before he stepped into the Zeta Beam, he said to the heroes that had agreed to take care of Robin, "Whatever you do, don't play hide and seek."

Robin looked dejected that her mentor had left.

Ms. Martian asked the girl, "Do you want me to do your hair?"

The girl said, "I have math homework."

Wonder Girl said, "We don't have to do it right now."

Robin said, "Agent A told me if I got it done first thing I could have an extra cookie from the cookie jar when I got home." She hitched her black Batman back pack a little higher on her small shoulders.

Bumblebee said, "Alright sweetie, let's go to the rec room to do it. That way we can sit on the couches."

Robin nodded in agreement and followed the older girls. Wonder Girl tried to get her to hold hands, but the small girl seemed determined to remain untethered. They began to understand why, as she went from walking, like any one would, to cartwheeling, to doing round offs, and finally walking on her hands.

Wonder Girl asked, "Do you like doing gymnastics?"

Robin smiled brightly and nodded, though she almost lost her balance and had to flip back to her feet. They got to the rec room, and Robin quickly pulled out her math homework.

She said, "It's the word problems that I always have trouble with."

Bumblebee and Ms. Martian shared a look of shock when they saw the Algebra text book.

Ms. Martian asked Robin, "What grade are you in?"

Robin said, "second, but they let me skip a few grades in math, science, and English. I still have to take normal Spanish though." Her mask wrinkled a little as she looked disgusted.

Wonder Girl asked, "What's so bad about that?"

Robin replied, "I can already speak Spanish. I'd rather learn something new."

Bumblebee asked, "Like what?"

Robin seemed to contemplate this for a moment, as if she had a hard time thinking of a language she didn't know. Finally, she said, "I think I'd like to learn one of the other dialects of Chinese. All I know is Mandarin."

The girls looked at each other for a minute, then back at the girl. Did Batman forget to mention that this new Robin was a genius, or had they all been this way?

Ms. Martian asked, "What languages do you know besides Spanish?"

The girl shrugged as she flipped through her math book to the correct page. She sat down on the couch. Bumblebee sat down on one side of her. She read through the first problem. She asked, "What seems to be the problem?"

Robin said, "It doesn't make any sense. If I were throwing a football through the air, then I'd factor in wind speed, the shape of the ball, and my own strength."

The three girls stared at the smaller one for a minute. Eventually, Bumblebee managed to suggest, "Maybe they factored all that in already, and just want you to solve the problem the rest of the way."

Robin looked at her for a minute, sighed, and wrote down the equation, quickly followed by the two correct answers. She circled the more correct of the two. She did the next three problems without any trouble, then shut her math book.

Ms. Martian asked, "Is that it?"

Robin explained, "I can usually get it done in study hall, but today I had stuff to do instead."

Wonder Girl asked, "So what do you want to do now?"

Robin said, "If I were home, then I would go to the gym and practice. That or talk to Batman about the case we're on to see if there's anything I can do."

Bumblebee said, "We have a gym here if you want to practice."

Robin smiled sweetly and said, "Okay."

Ms. Martian led the way once more, while Robin did flips down the hallway.

Meanwhile, on a Justice League mission

Batman moved around with relative ease. He had been on missions with most of these people before. Some of them didn't know that, but they just treated him about the same as they had the previous Batman, though with more suspicion.

Flash kept looking at him, as if he was wishing he could be anyone else. Since he had taken his mentor's place on the Justice League, Flash had been considered one of the original six, even if he was technically the third Flash. He knew that Dick was the one behind the mask. He just wished his friend hadn't chosen to take up the feared mantle. What he didn't know, was who the young Robin they had left behind had been.

Superman asked, "B, you see anything in your sector?"

Batman replied calmly in the low growl that had always been Batman's voice, "Yes, the Injustice League is in warehouse five."

They converged quickly on the warehouse. A yellow beam shot towards the sky just before they went in.

Back on the Watch Tower

Robin smiled as the bot advanced. Ms. Martian was monitoring her, since Bumblebee had a project to work on and Wonder Girl was called to Themescara for Amazonian business. Ms. Martian checked again to make sure that the bot was on level one. She knew what had happened to people that let any of the previous Robins get hurt. She didn't want to get almost killed by Batman.

The bot swung out at Robin. She easily ducked under the crude punch, rolled around the bot, and kicked it from behind. It tumbled to the ground. The computer said bot 550 fail.

Robin smiled brightly. She did a back wards hand spring. She turned and ran towards a set of uneven bars that hadn't been used for months. The people that worked at the Watch Tower kept it in good repair, but without constant use they were starting to gather dust.

Robin cartwheeled twice, did another three round offs, then grabbed onto the higher of the two bars. She started doing a gymnastics routine that seemed to defy all of the laws of physics and the laws of motion. Ms. Martian could only stare, mouth agape in awe.

The first Robin had shown them a couple of tricks, and every once and a while she would see the end or beginning of one such routine, but she had never seen him start to finish.

Even after she saw past the insane moves, Ms. Martian was astounded by the expression on the girl's face. She looked the way Aqualad had when he got into the water after a couple of weeks without swimming. She didn't hesitate before each move the way most gymnasts did when they weren't following a routine. It was like doing these crazy stunts was as natural as walking.

Then there was a flash of yellow light. If it had been anyone else, Robin would have broken her neck, at best, she would have broken her leg. It was Robin though. She curled into a ball, turning four times, before easily landing on her feet. They were in separate metal cages, along with every other living thing on the Watch Tower. Robin's was a bird cage. She leaped up to grab the swing and started using it like a trapeze.

Joker's voice rang through the warehouse the cage was in, "Ooooh we caught the new little birdie in our cage."

Robin just went on without reacting to the voice of her most feared enemy.

The brain said, "We'll do better than that before the night is out Joker."

It was then that the heroes that had gone on the original mission to catch the Injustice League burst into the warehouse. They saw the various heroes and sidekicks trapped in cages. Batman's eyes widened for a second before the white lenses that covered his eyes narrowed to slits.

Robin did a couple of crazy moves on the swing in the bird cage.

Lex Luthor warned, "If you take another step forward, then we drop the cages starting with the youngest."

Most of the heroes didn't notice Robin rolling her eyes. Those that did though they were hallucinating.

Batman took that step forward. Lex pressed the button to drop Robin's cage. They gasped in shock when the cage hit the ground. Joker was laughing maniacally.

The room's temperature seemed to drop twenty degrees. Joker stopped laughing suddenly. No one had seen Batman advance on the Clown like figure. He was knocked out on the ground.

Lex Luthor pulled a gun, easily aiming it at a chink in the Dark Knight's armor. He was surprised to have fifty pounds drop onto his shoulders. The gun ended up disassembled on the ground. Lex Luthor was knocked out.

The rest of the heroes and villains managed to shake off the shock they felt and rush to join the fray. The heroes came out on top, as usual. Robin helped more than most of the sidekicks that had been ripped from the Watch Tower.

When they finished off the bad guys, she ran towards her mentor, though a more apt description might be flew, since she spent so much time off the ground.

Batman easily caught her when she jumped into his arms and hugged him tight. It was a familiar scene for many of the Leaguers that had watched the first Robin grow up.

When those that didn't know asked, the Leaguers that knew explained, "The Bats have a relationship much closer than any other group of heroes. Sure, every sidekick hero relationship is close, but for most of us it's like a second parent or a favorite uncle or aunt. The Batman Robin relationship is much closer." That was all they would say on the subject. The pair of Bats disappeared before they could ask them anything.

Back at Wayne Manor

"Dad, I left my math homework at the Watch Tower," Robin said.


	6. I deliberately did not title this 6

Now, you should never in your widest dreams think of challenging a Bat to anything ever. However, even an insomniac can't stay up longer than a Bat. Because of this, hilarity in sues when the Team tries.

The Team were having a sleep over. It was part of the bonding exercises that were supposed to bring them closer together.

Kid Flash and Artemis were already fighting. M'gann was making popcorn in the kitchen with Superboy. Kaldur was sitting on the couch, trying to pay attention to the book he was reading. Robin was doing crazy acrobatics moves on the backs of the couches.

Kid Flash yelled, "I can stay up three times longer than you Blondie."

Artemis retorted, "You pass out after training every day Bay Watch."

Kid Flash defended, "Exactly, I get more sleep, so I can stay up longer."

Robin chose this moment to interject by saying, "Face it, I would out last all of you by two days."

M'gann, having heard all of this from the kitchen, let out a girly screeched and said, "We should have a stay up late contest!"

Kaldur said, "Then we will be exhausted for any missions."

Robin, liking the idea of beating all his team mates at another contest, defended, "but Batman probably won't give us any soon after our last one. Besides, I stay up all the time, and I'm still awake for missions."

M'gann added, "And, we'll probably bond even better."

Kaldur said, "Alright."

Robin let out a whoop. He had about thirty-six hours worth of systems updates he had been putting off. He could beat his friends and get valuable work done. With breaks and time for food, he would get it done in approximately forty-eight hours.

Kid Flash proclaimed, "Your all going down. I've stayed up for twenty four hours straight before."

Artemis scoffed and said, "My thirty totally beats that."

Robin laughed at both of the pathetic numbers, though didn't brag about his own record. He didn't want to make them quit early.

M'gann came in with the popcorn and a chest of soda. His teammates all picked the ones with the most caffeine. Robin ignored it, knowing Batman would ground him if he drank any of those. He was a total health nut sometimes. Instead, he started the complex code that needed to be updated.

M'gann was the first to fall asleep. It was only the second movie. Superboy followed closely behind. Kaldur managed to make it through the night, but passed out shortly after dawn. Kid Flash and Artemis were to tired to bicker any more, but they still tried. Their arguments just didn't make any sense.

M'gann woke up at about eight. She happily went into the kitchen, only to find Kid Flash sleeping with a pile of food in front of him and Artemis asleep trying to clean an arrow.

Robin came in a few seconds later and said with the same cheerfulness he would with a full night's sleep, "Looks like I won."

M'gann said, "I never heard you say how long you can stay up."

Robin said, "seventy-three hours."

M'gann gasped.

I added, "I usually get about four hours of sleep on school nights. It makes it even easier."

Two days later

Robin let out a yawn and stretched his arms and legs. He had finally finished the code.

Kid Flash asked, "Dude, have you fallen asleep yet?"

Robin said, "No, but that sounds like a pretty good idea right about now." The young boy wrapped his cape around him, curled into a tight ball, and promptly fell asleep.


	7. I deliberately did not title this 7

I packed my bag. One three month trip fueled by revenge and a need to do something besides mope and beat up common criminals. Nightwing was to busy fighting back tears to hear me leave. I left a note. I would be back the week before school started. If he couldn't connect the dots that I had, then he would be in the dark as to my exact location. He probably wouldn't be able to. Most of my contacts had already been killed by assassins.

There was just one last stop before I left America for the next three months of my life. Gotham City. It wasn't as hard as people claim to locate Batman. He was getting sloppier every day. He might not make it the three months I would be gone. Then again, maybe one thirteen year old boy would change that.

No one else had noticed him taking pictures, but I had. He hadn't caught on to my keeping an eye on him. Dick was still convinced I shouldn't stay home alone, so influencing him to pick our nearest neighbor's kid to baby sit me wasn't hard. He was four years older than me. That was a couple years less than Jason, but I knew he'd do well if he ever worked up the nerve.

I found Batman beating up a group of gangsters. I stayed in the shadows, only stepping out to prevent him from delivering one blow to many.

He asked, "Why are you here Blue Jay?"

I said, "I wanted to tell you in person that I'm leaving. I left Nightwing a note, but he probably won't find it for a day or two. I'll be back in three months."

Batman said, "Don't go. Nightwing needs you."

I said, "No, Nightwing needs you. I need to go through my own child like mourning. He still needs you and you're falling over a cliff that will drag you both down. If you haven't worked it out by the time I get back, then I'll have to do something about it. Neither of you will like it much. Don't blame yourself so much. It's my fault as much as it is yours. I was supposed to have his back, but I had to go to nationals instead. The people I'm going after share the responsibility and you haven't even figured out their involvement."

Batman said, "You're nine. You can't just leave for three months without parental consent."

I said, "That argument lost power the moment you beat Joker into a body cast for six months. I'll be safer if I leave then if I stay here. Good bye." Most people would claim it was impossible to pull a disappearing act on Batman. Most people don't know me.

Two Months Later

I was in a cage staring down R'as al Ghoul. Most people claim this is impossible. I like to do at least nine impossible things before breakfast every morning. One of them is usually stealing R'as al Ghoul's bacon, which is not how I got caught.

I turned to look at the heroes that were the reason behind my capture. They were all older than me by at least two years. The one I was most interested in was Robin. He didn't recognize me. My deep hood and change in costume made sure of that. This one had a cape.

Robin asked, "Why did you try to save us?"

I thanked my lucky stars that the voice alterer I used was still functioning. It made my voice sound a million times different. I said through it, "Some of your group have saved my life before." It was the truth, sort of. Nightwing and Batgirl had saved my life before.

Wonder Girl asked, "Who are you?"

I said, "Call me Wraith."

R'as said, "Oh, so that's your name."

I said, "Yes, just like your the leader of the League of Rainbows."

Beast Boy snickered at the comment.

Robin said, "You do realize he could kill us all right now."

I said, "Yeah, but insulting him is half of my fun."

Wonder Girl asked, "How long have you been here?"

I said, "For a while."

R'as growled, "This boy has been a plague for two months." R'as thought I was a guy. Wow, the voice changer really did work well. I didn't have to correct him just yet.

I said, "I wouldn't call myself a plague. If I had to go with something, I'd say I was haunting your house. That would go well with my name."

R'as growled something more before he stalked out of the room.

Wonder Girl asked, "So, why Wraith?"

I said, "Because I usually stay in the shadows. You guys forced me to come out of hiding to attempt a rescue." I pulled out my lockpicks from my utility belt.

Robin demanded the second he saw them, "Where did you get those?" I knew why he was asking. Bat lock picks are better then even military grade ones. They look different to.

I said, "They were a gift from a friend of mine. She got them from one of you Bats." It was almost painful to say you instead of we. I didn't really enjoy lying to the newest Robin either, but I had to keep my cover intact. I would probably tell Nightwing if he came, but then I might not.

Robin asked, "What was her name?"

I said with little emotion, "Blue Jay."

Wonder Girl asked, "Who's that?"

Robin said, "Before I became Robin, Nightwing had a protege. She ran away shortly after the second Robin," he gulped, "got killed. Nightwing still isn't sure where she went."

Beast Boy asked confused, "It's possible to hide from Nightwing?"

Robin said, "She was apparently the best hidden mover that any of them had ever met. If anyone could hide from us, it was her."

I finished picking the lock and slipped the lock pick set back into my utility belt, careful to hide if from sight. It was the one thing that was obviously Bat like.

I said, "I met her in some small country in Africa. She didn't tell me where she was going, but we kept each other alive for awhile. It was odd to meet another hero my age. Most start out older."

Wonder Girl asked, "How old are you?"

I said, "Nine-ish. I don't know my exact date of birth, but the last doctor I spoke to told me I was somewhere around nine." That was a lie. My birthday was in a week. I had planned to celebrate by sending a letter to Nightwing, telling him I'd be back in a month. I might have even hinted at my location.

Wonder Girl said, "That must be hard."

I shrugged and said, "You get used to it after a while."

I pushed the gate to the cage open and said, "After you," with a small bow in Wonder Girl's direction.

She smiled and went out of the cage first. Robin sent a glare my way. I ignored it and hopped out of the cage. The rest of the heroes weren't far behind.

I asked Robin, "Do you want to scout ahead or behind?"

Robin said logically, "You know the way better, so you should lead."

I nodded, glad he was big enough to let me lead, when I had apparently accidentally hit on Wonder Girl. I'd have to be more careful with my words and actions. I wasn't used to faking being a guy. I would have to end it sooner rather than later. For the time however, it kept my cover nicely.

I led the way, making sure to let them see me enough that they could follow. I had to make sure Robin didn't suspect I was Blue Jay, so I had to make it seem like I wasn't trying to be seen either. It was quite difficult, but I managed.

We made it outside of the main complex.

I asked them, "Do you have a way to contact your team?"

Robin said, "Yeah, they'll be here any minute in the bioship."

I heard a branch snap nearby. It wasn't a natural sound for this island. I said, "We don't have a minute. You all need to go straight to the beach. Don't look back. I'll be fine."

Wonder Girl said, "We don't leave people behind. You're coming with us."

I said, "I'll be fine. I've lived in the main complex for a while without being found. I can handle these guys. You need to get out of here while you can."

Robin said, "No, she's right. No one can get left behind. No one dies."

I realized why he was saying what he was saying. I said, "Fine, but if we die, I'm bringing you back to life to do it again."

I led the way towards the beach. We were half way there, when I took out an assassin that was blocking our way. I searched him quickly, and used the remote he had on him to get rid of our inhibitor collars.

We made it to the ship just as the bioship came in. It ruffled my cropped black hair. Nightwing opened the door and asked, "Who's this?"

Robin said, "He's a friend. He helped us get out."

Nightwing let me get on the bioship, though I did so unwillingly. I stood in the back, unwilling to sit down.

I felt the mental touch of someone. I immediately, instinctively, pinned them down. I demanded in my best Batman impression, "Get. Out. Of. My. Head!"

Ms. Martian said vocally, "I'm sorry. I should have asked before I entered your mind."

I said, "Yes, you should have. My thoughts are my own."

Nightwing asked, "Who are you?"

I said, "My name is Wraith. I infiltrated the League of Shadows a while ago. I was attempting to gather information when this lot showed up. I got captured trying to save them and ended up freeing them."

Robin said, "He's telling the truth. R'as called him a plague."

Nightwing asked, "Can you prove this?"

I said, "I can give you my word, and show you the empty spray paint cans that I used to graffiti the walls of that place. I can even tell you the plots I've informed various governments of, which they then told the Justice League about."

Ms. Martian seemed to say something to them using the mind link. Maybe I shouldn't have been so convincing with the whole "Get out of my head" thing. I needed to know what they were saying.

Nightwing demanded suddenly, "You've seen Blue Jay?"

I said, "Yeah, in a tiny country in Africa. She gave me her spare lock pick set. Never told me where she was planning on going next." I felt terrible lying to my mentor, but the League of Shadows had been planning something big that I needed to get on the inside of. He'd never let me go back if I revealed it was me. Besides, I lost my spare Domingo mask when I tried to save Beast Boy, Robin, and Wonder Girl. I continued, "Anyway, the League of Shadows was planning something big when I left. I still need more information on it. R'as was being extra careful, but now that he knows I'm off the island, his security will lighten again. If I go back now, he'll never suspect a thing."

Wonder Girl said, "Or you'll get caught again Wraith. Maybe you should wait a week before you go back."

I sighed and said, "The information is being exchanged now. If I wait a week I could miss something."

Robin said, "Three days then. You can wait three days. It'll be safer that way."

Three days of lies. Three days of being close enough to home I could almost touch it. Three days of staring Nightwing in the eye and telling him I was someone I wasn't. Three days that someone could get the smallest of DNA samples that would prove I was Blue Jay. Three days that someone could figure out I wasn't the guy I claimed to be. Three days seemed to long. I said, "Alright, three days, but not a second more. You have to give me a lift back in a more subtle ship then this though. The League of Shadows could see it coming from a mile away, even if it has a camouflage mode. They have sensors for alien tech."

Nightwing said, "Alright."

I still stayed standing. I didn't want to get comfortable. This was not my place in the world. Not yet at least. I still had amends to make. A forced solitude to uphold. It was my own punishment for failing Jason. I would go back to Gotham only after those three months. I would only go back to my family after those three months.

It didn't take long for us to get to Happy Harbor and then to Mount Justice. I hadn't ever been there before. Nightwing told the Zeta Beam to call me Wraith. I'd have to hack into it when I came back to make sure it called me Blue Jay then. I felt horrible at the very thought of it, but I had to find out what the League of Shadows was planning.

Wonder Girl gave me the grand tour. She showed me a room I could stay in for the time being. I didn't change out of costume, even in there. Knowing Batman, there were video cameras and voice recorders in every room but the bathroom. There might even be heavily encrypted ones in there.

I laid down on the too soft bed. I was used to sleeping on the floor. I opted for the padded window seat. It was softer than the floor, but not as soft as the too soft bed. I woke at dawn, as per usual. If I had been here as Blue Jay, I would have headed for the practice rooms. As it was, I hadn't eaten since the bacon I had stolen the previous morning. I just had to make a dish I hadn't known how to make before I left.

I went to the kitchen. I was surprised to see Nightwing already there.

He asked, "So...when did you meet Blue Jay?"

I replied, "It was a few months ago. I was in Africa, trying to find a way onto Infinity Island. She was there tracking down some war lord. I helped her out. She helped me out. She gave me her lock picks. I gave her the secret to silencing a can of spray paint. Then I left for Infinity Island. I have no idea where she went though. She said the only permanent plan she had for where she would go was that she'd go back to Gotham after three months. Something about self imposed punishment. We were diffusing some bombs at the time, so it was kind of hard to pay attention to what she was saying. I barely knew what I was saying. She was nice. Saved a stray cat from getting run over by a tank." Everything I said was true except for the bit where I talked to someone while diffusing bombs and the bit about me not knowing where I would go.

Nightwing said, "That sounds like her. She always got chatty at the most stressful moments."

I nodded in agreement.

He asked, "You want some pancakes? They've got chocolate chips."

I said, "You know, assassins aren't allowed to eat chocolate. I haven't even seen a chocolate bar for like two months. Chocolate chip pancakes sound amazing." More truth.

Nightwing said, "They were BJ's favorite breakfast food."

I smiled and said, "She never told me that much, however I agree. There's not much better than chocolate chips and maple syrup." I put a couple of the divine creations on my plate. Nightwing's chocolate chip pancakes were the best. My mouth was watering just thinking about them. I savored every bite of them. I remarked, "If the hero business doesn't work out for you, you should start one of those all day breakfast restaurants. You'd make millions."

Batgirl came in then and said, "They're a little sweet for my taste."

I almost countered, "Everything is a little sweet for your taste," but thankfully I caught my self. Instead I said, "You call these divine creation too sweet? Blasphemer! Chocolate can never be to sweet." So...R'as talked way to formally all the time, and it was beginning to rub off on me. I'm sure three days with normal people would rid me of the habit.

Nightwing explained to her, "He didn't get chocolate on Infinity Island."

I licked my plate clean, which was another thing I'd never do as Blue Jay. I always hid my to long tongue from sight as much as possible. Even Nightwing didn't know about it as far as I knew. I didn't bother now.

Nightwing said, "You know, I made extras."

My eyes widened, though it was impossible to tell beneath the mask that covered my face. I said, "Seconds are another invention that assassins skip."

Nightwing put another stack of pancakes on my plate. I drenched them in maple syrup, accidentally spilling some on the counter.

Batgirl asked me as I gorged myself, "So what was Infinity Island like?"

I said, "It's surprisingly cold. I slept with my cape wrapped around me most nights. Then again, that was as much to hide me as it was for warmth. It's surprisingly difficult to graffiti the walls of R'as' throne room. He's rather protective of it, though I managed it."

Batgirl asked, "What did you paint?"

I said, "In huge rainbow letters, I wrote, "League of Rainbows!" That was the first R'as knew about me. I stayed in the shadows before that, but I needed to incite him to organize more. It's easier to hide with in the system when it's clearly defined. I got way more information after that. I sent out information about two hundred assassination attempts and fifty potential kidnappings. The hardest one to inform on was the few American ones. The CIA doesn't like getting tips from children."

Nightwing said, "I know what you mean."

I knew he knew. He had told me that story already. I had encountered the same problem.

He said, "It was probably easier for a non-American citizen."

I asked, "Who ever said I wasn't from America? Just because I have an accent doesn't mean I didn't grow up I the USA. The CIA didn't know that, but still."

Batgirl asked, "What part of the United States do you come from?"

They were fishing for information, and I was giving it right to them. Bats were a tricky lot. I would know, as a member of the secretive group.

I said, "I'd rather not disclose that, to protect myself, my friends, and my family."

Nightwing asked, "What kind of family lets their nine year old son go to foreign countries in pursuit of assassins?"

I said quietly, "The kind that's infested with them. My dad got out of the family business. He took me with him." Lie! "I decided I wanted to stop the infestation at the source after he was killed by my older brother." Lie upon lie. I was just setting up a full fake back story for myself. This would be hard to explain away if I ever made the big reveal, or if they discovered it for themselves. I'd have to be extra careful now. I had a back story that could be looked into.

Nightwing and Batgirl looked at each other. Robin came in then. I decided to finish my pancakes. They were still delicious. I licked my plate clean once more and took it to the sink.

Normally, I would leave them to be done by someone else, but it had been so long since I had done something so ordinary and monotonous, I decided to just wash the dishes. There was a dishwasher, but doing it by hand seemed right to me. It didn't take long for me to finish, but I had to hunt through the cabinets for the areas they went.

When I finished, a yellow blur came into the room. Kid Flash stopped and asked, "Who's he?"

Nightwing said, "Kid Flash, this is Wraith. He's staying with us for a few days before he goes back to a long undercover mission."

Kid Flash asked me, "Where's the undercover mission?"

I said, "Infinity Island."

Kid Flash asked Nightwing, "Isn't that where you thought Blue Jay went?"

Nightwing nodded and said, "Wraith here has informed us however that that assessment was incorrect." The way he said it, fighting back all emotion, told me how much he missed me. It made me feel even worse, but it also told me I was right to keep the secret. I had to find out what the League of Shadows was planning.

Beast Boy came out of nowhere and asked me, "Do you know how to play video games?"

I said, "They weren't exactly available at Infinity Island. I haven't gone near a console in years." Small lie. I had gotten good enough to beat Jason when he was still alive to be beaten. I hadn't gone near one since after his death. That was only five months.

Beast Boy said, "Good, then you'll be an easy target. Robin always beats me. I'm pretty sure he cheats."

Robin said, turning red, "I don't cheat."

Beast Boy said, "Sure you don't."

I followed the two boys into the entertainment room, where the Wii was set up. Super Smash Bros Brawl came up. That was just great. It had been my game. I could beat Jason no matter what character he chose for himself as any character. I said, "I used to be really good at this game."

Beast Boy said, "I am really good at this game."

Nightwing grabbed one of the controllers and said, "In your dreams." I picked up a black game cube controller. I was always better with the game cube configuration then the Wii. I plugged it in in the fourth player spot and went for the chair most covered by shadows by force of habit.

Nightwing said, "No need to sit all the way over there."

I forced myself towards the white couch. It made my all black uniform stand out even more. I put my token on random, not really caring which character I played. Nightwing did to after a moment's thought. Beast Boy went with Kirby, though he changed the color, so he was green. Robin went with Link, whose color was changed to red instead of green.

I ended up with Pikachu in Pokemon Stadium. Beast Boy kept trying to float up and drop down on us as a heavy material. I used Pikachu's thunder bolt to knock him out of the air before he could. Robin was a bit harder to beat, but he focused to much on the physical moves without using Link's ranged attacks. I used Pickachu's ranged thunder shock. Nightwing was the hardest. He had ended up with Sammus. He was good. It was only because I managed to get more Smash Balls that I beat him.

Beat Boy said, "Great, someone else whose better than me at this game."

I offered, "I did warn you I used to be good. Some talents don't die."

Robin asked, "Who did you play with that you got so good?"

I said, "Me and my dad," it was Jason this time, "used to play this all the time. I only managed to beat him a couple of times," I beat Jason all the time "My uncle played it with us to sometimes," uncle meaning Nightwing on this occasion, "he could always beat both of us." I curled my legs into my chest instinctively again. I hadn't thought much about the stuff I had left behind, but now that I had to be in the midst of it, lying the whole time, I was more home sick then I had been my entire time on Infinity Island.

The other boys just stared at me for a minute. I knew for a fact Tim and Dick both got like this sometimes, so it was okay to act that way. I was letting my guard down a little, or at least, pretending to. Either one of them would rise to the occasion, or they would unintentionally push me out.

I said, "Let's just play another game."

Beast Boy got up to switch disks. Thankfully, I always sucked at Mario Cart.

Nightwing said when nine o'clock hit, "We need to have morning training."

Beast Boy let out a groan. Robin perked up. I got ready to pull a short disappearing act. I couldn't participate in training without showing off some Blue Jay moves. That meant no training for Wraith.

I was preempted by Beast Boy asking, "Hey Wraith, you'll come to right? I promise to go easy on you."

I asked, "What gave you the impression you had to go easy on me shorty?"

Beast Boy said, "Dude, I'm like four years older than you."

I shrugged and said, "I take on full grown assassins to keep back boredom. I think I can handle one little green shape shifter."

Beast Boy said, "It is on."

Nightwing said, "We are supposed to have one on one sparing."

Alright, so all I had to do was keep the acrobatics to a minimum and I'd be fine. If I showed off to much, I could always claim Blue Jay taught me some moves. Besides, Beast Boy challenged me, in order to keep my cover, I had to accept.

I said, "Alright, let's do it. Where's this sparing supposed to take place?"

Beast Boy said, "Follow me if you can."

I easily kept up with him, though he attempted to cheat by changing into different animals. If we had been outside, he would have won. The sharp turns of the hallways slowed him down.

We got to the practice ring, and the rest of the Team was already there. I hastily threw a mental block into place when I saw Ms. Martian. I even took a half step back. I had never liked mind readers. The first one I met had hurt me a lot. I never trusted any of the others.

Beast Boy said, "Hurry up slow poke. I'm getting older."

I walked slowly, calmly into the ring. I kept my eyes on Ms. Martian, even as I fought Beast Boy. I was relying on my martial arts, which had only gotten better since I went to Infinity Island. I took him down after a few minutes.

Robin asked, "Want to spar with me?" He had just taken down some guy named Lagoon Boy.

I shrugged and said, "Sure."

He was good, but to calculating. He was trying to think ten moves ahead, when he should have focused on the here and now. I won with a fake followed by a leg sweep.

I offered him a hand up. He took it. He said, "You fight a bit like they do."

I asked, "Who?"

Robin said, "The League of Shadows. I guess it makes sense, since you've been with them for so long."

I said, "It happens. I wish they didn't influence my fighting style, but there isn't much I can do about it."

Batgirl came over and said, "Good job you two." Then she asked me, "Where did you learn to fight?"

I said, "My dad," this time dad is a euphemism for Nightwing, "taught me how to fight."

Batgirl then asked Robin, "Hey, want to spar with me?"

Robin said, "Sure," though it sounded slightly unwilling. I knew how he felt. I would spar with Nightwing at a moments notice, but sparing with Batgirl was always daunting. You never could be sure whether or not she'd take it easy on you.

Nightwing came over and asked, "Want to try your hand against me Wraith?"

This is where I get caught and grounded for all of eternity. Nightwing knew my moves. Fighting him would probably force me to pull my more gymnastics like ones to dodge his blows. Thankfully, I was saved by the Zeta Beam declaring, "Batman 02, Flash 04, Superman 01, Martian Man Hunter 07, Aquaman 06, Green Arrow 08, Wonder Woman 03" Immediately, the entire Team rushed towards the Zeta Beam to meet their mentors. I hung back. I had already been with my mentor. I just had to lie to him every two steps I took. I took a deep breath before slowly following the Team.

Batman was the one I had to worry about the most. If anyone would figure out I was me, it would be him. Batman wasn't called the World's Greatest Detective for nothing.

I walked into the room with the assembled mentors and proteges. I watched from the shadows, unsure what more to do. The Team seemed to be hoping for a mission. I didn't want to work with these people. It would just increase their chances of finding out.

My mental block got reinforced when I saw Martian Man Hunter and Ms. Martian standing next to each other, communicating telepathically.

Batman said, "Team, we've recently received information about a series of assassinations." That would be the ones that I sent to one of my contacts that can send information to the Justice League. Our informant has gone silent." There was a reason for that. "We know the dates, but all we know about the targets is their country of origin." That was because I had discovered them shortly before Robin, Wonder Girl, and Beast Boy had shown up.

I stepped into the light and said, "I can give you the rest now, without the middle man."

Batman stared at me. I was holding myself differently then Blue Jay or Zara did. I was taller than last time. I wasn't grieving much anymore. Still, he would no doubt suspect something when he heard the time table. I just had to keep up the act, and pray he didn't put two and two together only to end up with sixteen.

Nightwing said, "Batman, this is Wraith. He helped Robin, Beast Boy, and Wonder Girl get off Infinity Island, when they went to confirm that information. He's the informant that's been getting information off the island."

I nodded.

Batman asked, "What are their names?"

I pulled the scroll I had copied them down on out of my sleeve. I said, "This has names, addresses, and the methodology R'as wanted the assassins to use. He may have been feeding me false information though. It seemed overly convenient that I found them all in the same place. I pulled another scroll out and said, "This one was harder to get to, but has less information. One of them is correct, and the other isn't. I was about to send them both to my contact that gave this kind of information to you, but I got distracted when Robin, Wonder Girl, and Beat Boy came in."

Batman accepted both scrolls. He speed read through them both and handed them to Nightwing. I was about to slide back into the shadows when Wonder Girl came over to me and said, "Nice."

I just shrugged and said, "I could have gotten more information if I hadn't been so impulsive about going after you. R'as still wouldn't have seen me that way to."

Nightwing said, "You cut our work down a lot. It'll still require all of us to guard all the potential targets, but you cut our work down a lot."

I shook my head and said, "I should have done better." Usually, I didn't beat myself up this much, but with that many potential deaths on the line because I screwed up, it scared me. Maybe I didn't deserve redemption.

Batman said, "We'll work in teams of two." I realized in that moment that without me there was an odd number. That meant I had to be on one of the teams. I didn't want to be on one of the teams of two. That would make it way harder to keep my distance for the next two and a quarter days. Besides, I had to get back to Infinity Island to figure out what R'as was planning. "You'll get your assignments when you've paired up." Mostly, it was mentors with proteges. Batgirl ended up with Martian Man Hunter. Nightwing was the only one remaining without a partner.

He said, "Looks like we're fighting together instead of against each other."

I nodded, pretending to be somewhat happy with the pair up. Fighting with Nightwing was almost as bad as fighting against him.

We were assigned England's Prime Minister. He was actually in England for once. We Zetaed over there and quickly found him. It was quiet for most of it. It was just passed dawn when the assassins hit. Only, they didn't go for the Prime Minister. They went for me. They had me tied up before I could fight back, though I still tried. It just didn't work.

They dragged me to a boat, which sped straight for Infinity Island.

I used every curse word in every language I knew. It was an extensive list. It was because of the information I brought in that this was happening. They didn't even try to get Nightwing. They were aiming for the junior heroes. I was brought straight to the throne room. The others were already there.

R'as said, "Ah, Wraith. The last arrival, and yet, the most intriguing. I didn't anticipate you trying to save those heroes. I thought I'd have to lead them to the lists after Robin got them out, but you took care of both. I still had had hope that Blue Jay would show her face, but you'll be an acceptable replacement I suppose. You did know her for a while in Africa. You claim that's how you got that lock pick set. I guess I'll have to track her down later."

I bowed my head in shame. This was all my fault. If I hadn't been obsessed with redemption, none of this would have happened. I asked, "What do you want R'as?"

R'as said, "Ah Wraith, you've given me exactly what I wanted. All the young members of the Justice League's precious Team plus yourself."

I said, "You already got one sidekick killed. Why do any more damage?"

R'as said, "The second Robin was an accident. These ones will be put to greater use." He pulled out a remote and pressed a button. The entire floor tilted forward. We all descended into a pit.

I had to remove the bottom half of my mask a few minutes after we got in there. It filtered the air I breathed and required electricity to work. That meant he had set off something to prevent all electronics from working. It also meant I couldn't talk for the duration of our stay.

It was to well lit for me to hide in the shadows, so I wrapped my cape around me and went to the corner farthest from the young heroes. It was my fault they got captured. They shouldn't even have been there.

My shaggy black hair fell down to my ears. It was usually held back by the lower part of my mask. I had been growing it out recently in preparation for my return to regular society. I pushed my cowl down and shook it out. All I had left between the world and my identity was a piece of cloth that covered everything from my nose up.

Batgirl said, after trying out fifty percent of the electronics she had on her, "He used an EMP to knock all our stuff out."

They had taken most of the others stuff, but they hadn't even bothered to search me. I could probably get out if I really wanted to. I just didn't really want to. It seemed like an apt punishment for me to be there with them.

Batgirl asked me, "Do you know a way out of here?"

I shook my head, but didn't look up. I didn't want to look at her. I was better than this. I should have seen it. I should have seen R'as plan for what it was. This was my fault. They wouldn't be here if I hadn't given them those scrolls. I didn't deserve to have had their cave as a home for three days. They should have imprisoned me. Nightwing should have just ripped the mask off of my face and grounded me for eternity.

Suddenly, a stone wall nearby slid down and a group of assassins came in. I had already untied my hands. I stood up, putting myself between them and the heroes. Talia was leading them.

She said, "Wraith, move and I might decide to spare your life. Stay there, and I make no promises."

I saw my opening then. I ran straight at her, dodged the blow she aimed my way, and slipped into the League of Shadows base. Now, I had the advantage. I was in my own home court. The shadows of their base.

Talia screamed after me, "Find him!"

I let out the most guy like cackle I could without my mask and moved through the base to my supply of spray paint and booby trap controls. I set all the booby traps I had set up over the last few months to go off as people moved onto or over them. Then, I headed back towards the place where they were keeping the Team.

The Team was gone. I cursed for a minute before making my way to the still badly lit throne room. There was the Team. They were surrounded by the largest group of assassins I had seen since they had their yearly meeting the month before. I easily hid among them without being seen by any of them. It was like R'as was unknowingly setting me up for success. I moved to a somewhat empty unlit area and pulled out my spray paint. It would be a simple message. It took a while to paint so many words large enough to be read all over the room. Thankfully, the shadow was just big enough.

R'as called out, "Wraith, I know your here. Show yourself, and I'll spare these ones." I threw one of my few remaining bird-a-rangs, mourning it's loss for an instant. It hit one of the hanging chandeliers, causing it to swing. It revealed the message I had painted.

It read simply with pictures replacing many of the words, "Dear League of Rainbows, I've booby trapped most of your base over the passed few months. It will cage you much like you tried to cage me. Let my friends go, and I might disable the traps. Keep them, and it'll be months before you can safely move around your own base. Sincerely, Wraith." I might have used up an entire can of black spray paint for the last word to make it drip a little down the wall. It looked awesome.

R'as stood up and took a step forward. That was where the first trap happened to be. Spray paint cans shot out of the ground, spraying the entire time, coating the leader of the League of Shadows in paint. I cackled as guy like as I could. It bounced off the walls, so my location wasn't revealed.

Batgirl remarked, "Looks like we have a bartering chip after all."

R'as said, "Wraith, I won't just release them on your word that these traps will be dismantled. You'll have to give up the location of your stash."

I passed through the light just long enough to paint, "Fine", and disappear.

When I got to a somewhat safe location, I pulled out my map of Infinity Island and drew an X where I had my stash. It wouldn't take them long to find it.

I called out in the most guy like voice I could, "Release them, and I'll give you this."

R'as called out, "Release them. Their mentor's ship landed moments ago."

That was when the dots connected. R'as hadn't wanted to bring us in. It was for a contract for someone else. They had paid enough that R'as wanted to keep the money. His contracts stipulated that failures due to heroic intervention still got them payment. He wanted me to win.

I tossed the map straight into his grip once all the heroes had gotten out. It included a note of thanks for letting me win. Then, I headed for the ship to say my good byes to the heroes.

I saw that the batwing was the only ship still on the ground. The other two that had come to find the young heroes had already taken off. It made me so home sick I almost tore off my mask and ran straight to Nightwing to beg forgiveness for my tricks. Then, I remembered the pact I made with myself the night I left. If I returned, then I wouldn't do gymnastics. I wouldn't be a hero. I would just be Zara Grayson-Wayne.

I pulled out one of my spare scrolls, wrote a quick note of apology, and a promise to be more careful about what plots I sent to them. I threw it straight passed Robin's head. He managed to catch it, but only barely. I disappeared before they could find me.

Back in the League of Shadows base, R'as was sitting on his throne. I put on the spare lower half of my mask that I had grabbed with the spray paint.

I called out to him, "I never promised to leave myself."

R'as said, "You have your uses boy when I don't want to win."

I said, "You know, there are easier ways to make Lex Luthor's plans fail. You could have given me the actual contract for the kidnappings. I would have put it to proper use."

R'as said, "Ah, but then I would never have discovered your stash of spray paint and booby traps."

I said, "You think I have only one. I expect better, even from the League of Rainbows." So began the beautiful enemyship that had grown between us for the last months. We would both miss the challenge, even if neither of us would ever admit it.

One Month Later

The boat that brought me into Gotham Harbor was not a very nice one. I had snuck onto it, so I guess it made sense. I was back in full Blue Jay garb. I had gotten a hair cut, so my hair no longer looked like a guy's grown out hair. I got off the boat the second it hit the shore. I worked my way quickly through the familiar city. I was flying again. I wasn't hiding my movements either. About half way across the city, I was knocked out of the air by a huge form grabbing me.

Nightwing said, "If you ever do that again, I will personally imprison you to the end of your days."

I said, "I know. I'm sorry. It was just...hard to be here during that time. I would have returned earlier, but I was sort of seeking my own redemption." I didn't add the bit where I had almost returned home, only to stay away with the League of Shadows.

Nightwing asked as he pulled out his grappling gun and started heading for his motorcycle, "So, where has my little birdie been for the last three months?"

I said, "I didn't exactly pay attention to borders. Somewhere in Afro-eurasia. My knowledge of foreign languages increased a bit." Only that last sentence was true, but I wouldn't have to lie to him much longer. I continued, "Met a guy my first month out. He called himself Wraith. He was good. Almost as good as me at moving through the shadows."

We got to Nightwing's motorcycle, which was conveniently stashed in an ally. I said, "I got home sick mostly during the second month, but I found a criminal organization that took the whole third month to take down." I did take down an off shoot of the League of Shadows. They were more violent than their original group. R'as repaid me for taking them down by supplying me with more spray paint, though he regretted it shortly there after.

I added, "I only saved the Justice League once, though they didn't see me." I had saved the Justice League on my way home. I had gone through Africa to lay a trail of my being there heading for Gotham.

Nightwing said, "seriously, never do that to me again."

I said, "I won't. My penance has been paid."

Nightwing said, "We met Wraith about a month back. Robin had a crazy theory he was you. His hand writing proved him wrong though. You hate writing in cursive. His was all loopy like he was practiced in Calligraphy." There is a story behind both of those last statements. I won't comment on what that is.

I said, "Yeah, he was also overly fond of spray paint. I traded him some lock picks for the secret about how you silence cans of spray paint. It was surprisingly simple and cheep. I didn't use it much though, since that would be defacing public property."

Nightwing said, "Your not going to disappear again if I set you on the back of my motorcycle."

I said, "No, I missed you to you know."

Nightwing set me down on the back of his motorcycle.

I commented, "I can walk you know."

Nightwing said, "That would require letting you go."

I pointed out, "I did come back of my own free will. I like it here when you lot aren't going crazy."

Nightwing pulled out of the ally. I hugged my mentor closely, glad I was able to return to him finally. I said, "Sorry."

Nightwing said, "Just...never do that again."

I smiled and said, "I think I can handle that." We rode in silence the rest of the way back to the batcave.

I asked, "Can I walk now?"

Nightwing said, "See, then I'd have to put you down." He picked me up bridal style. He continued, "Besides, then you could get lost in our recently renovated batcave."

I said, "It looks exactly the same, except for the trophy case."

Nightwing said, "So you see, you could get lost looking at the trophy case."

I rolled my eyes and said, "At least let me take my mast off. It's sort of been on my face for the last three months of my life."

Nightwing set me down and said, "Fine, change. Alfred still doesn't let us wear uniforms upstairs, so I guess you have to."

I was somewhat surprised to find clean clothes waiting for me in the locker room. I realized that Alfred must have believed I would return. That made me smile. I changed quickly. I really had missed Nightwing. When I came back out, he had somehow managed to change into his own civvies.

I said, "Wearing nothing but Kevlar for three months is not fun." Lie, Wraith had had Kevlar, but it was more comfortable then my Blue Jay costume could dream of being. I had left it in a stash house on one of the small islands near Gotham.

Dick said, "I imagine not."

I hugged him again. I asked, "Did I mention that I missed you?"

Dick said, "It wasn't nearly as much as I missed you."

I said, "I'm pretty sure it was close."

I heard rather than saw Batgirl and Robin get back to the cave. I was home. That was a sensation that I had missed during the last three months.

Robin said in surprise, "Zara, your back."

Batgirl encouraged him to be quiet and let me and Dick have our moment.

I said quietly, "I am never doing that again."

Dick said, "Good."

I asked Dick, "Can we go home?"

Dick said, "Yeah, we'll have to drive though. Someone hacked into the Zeta Beams a couple of weeks ago and we're not using them until we figure out what they did."

I said, "Alright."

Don't ask me how we got out of the batcave and to the garage where all the cars were. I was to busy hugging my mentor to notice. Alfred probably saw I was back somewhere along the way. I didn't know about Bruce. He was probably the one to notice me in the first place.

We rode in a car this time. I'm pretty sure the speedometer didn't drop below eighty until we pulled to a stop in front of our apartment. I smiled when I saw it. I could barely force myself to walk inside, when I could see the windows were open. The elevator seemed way to slow to me, but I had to deal with it. Our apartment was on the top floor, so people would get suspicious if I could run up the stairs.

When the doors finally opened, I forced myself to walk with Dick to the door to our apartment. The second it opened, I ran inside, and flung myself on the couch. I said, "Now, I'm home."


	8. I deliberately did not title this 8

Blue Jay stepped forward. She said, "Bart, there's something I need to tell you."

Bart looked at the other thirteen year old and asked, "What is it Blue? I kind of need to get going."

Blue Jay hesitated. She took a deep breath and said, "Look, you're going to meet me when your there. It's this thing R'as did to me. I was frozen alive for years and then he dunked me in a Lazarus Pit to wake me up. She doesn't talk much, but be careful. She lives in the shadows more than I do."

Bart looked shocked.

Blue Jay said, "I should have told you this earlier. I always wait to long to tell people things. Just be careful. She'll be a year or two younger than you. You might not even see her. She didn't exactly join the Team at all until after the Reach invasion."

Bart said, "So I get to see a younger version of you in the past. I thought I would finally get away from you by leaving."

Blue Jay punched him playfully in the arm. Then she said, "Just try to stop the freezing process from happening to her this time around. I won't need to be around in this time if we bear the Reach invasion."

Bart said, "I will."

Blue Jay leaned forward and kissed his cheek. She said, "For luck."

Bart pulled her into a hug for a moment. Then he released her and ran towards the time machine. He didn't feel her slip the tiny computer into his uniform as they hugged. She watched him leave, and hoped she had made the right decision.

Blue Jay smiled as she watched the future shift around her. She knew she wouldn't fade from existence, since time didn't flow linearly, until after her counter part in the past died. She just hoped it wouldn't be for a long time.

First pov

I stared at my wrist computer in shock. I was glad I was in an air duct, or I might have been in trouble freezing up.

The message was simple, "Wraith, this is a future you. There's somethings I need you to do to prevent the end of the world. It's simple, but neither of us are going to like it. I timed this message to get to you at your only opportunity to do what I'm about to tell you to do. You have to infiltrate the Light. It's the only way everyone can get out okay. The Team hasn't met Wraith and I know that the League of Shadows hasn't seen your face yet. It's the only way everyone will get out alive. It'll delay you rejoining Nightwing though. I'm sorry about that, but it's the only way to save the world. Please Wraith. We both know they're at least partly responsible for Jason's death. Be careful."

I could tell somehow that the note was real. I knew the future me was telling the truth. I knew I could easily join the Light from where I was. All I had to do was fight the hero I was here to see. It's not like he would know the difference anyway. I slid out of the vent and pulled out my erichma sticks, easily coming up with a back story as I went.

It was easy to sneak up on Atom Man. It wasn't like he was expecting me either way. I knocked him out with a hard blow and started to search for the technology I had planned on asking him about anyway. It was easy to find one of my first inventions. A simple silencer that I slipped into my lower mask.

That was when Deathstroke showed up.

He said, "You seem to be making a name for yourself."

I said, "I'm just getting what I need. It's not like he was using it anyway. All I really took from him was a bit of his time."

Deathstroke said, "I know many villains that started out like you. Some of them turned out okay."

I asked, "Is that a challenge?"

Deathstroke said, "I doubt you would do well against me."

I said, "I can do better than Robin did when he tried and failed to fight you."

Deathstroke said, "We will see about that." He attacked me. I had my erichma sticks in my hands in less than a second.

He was letting me last. He was testing me. I passed his test by knocking him to the ground and swinging a blow that would have knocked him out as well.

He caught it and said, "Very good. I can teach you to be better though if you'll come with me."

I hesitated for a moment, then raised my erichma stick, getting further into the role.

Six months later.

I liked this part of my job. It was easy. Just leave behind some evidence in a warehouse you know they'll be in. Leave more than you were told to though. Leave enough that they figure out it's a trap.

That is, I like this part of my job when the heroes aren't here yet.

Nightwing said, "Stop where you are."

I asked, "Or what? You'll kill me Bat?" I spat the last word like an insult to his character.

Nightwing said, "I know how to do things to you that are much more painful than death."

I laughed and said, "You should stick to fighting villains that actually fall for that line."

Nightwing said, "I might not kill you, but I can fight you."

I pulled out my erichma sticks and said, "Let's do it then and cut the small talk."

Nightwing's eyes narrowed when he saw the erichma sticks. He wasn't the only hero to use them, but most villains didn't use them either. I was the exception thus far. He pulled out his own erichma sticks and our fight began.

The student had yet to surpass the master in this instance. Nightwing managed to beat me. Years of experience helped with that. I didn't do badly though. I landed a couple of hits on him, but my heart wasn't in the fight. I was distracted by the fact that I was fighting my mentor and it wasn't a training session.

Nightwing said, "looks like you're not as good as you think you are."

I countered, "I'm just stalling. My mentor will get here soon. He doesn't really like you much."

Deathstroke stepped out of the shadows then. He remarked to me, "I expected better Wraith."

I said, "I am sorry Master."

Nightwing turned to face Deathstroke. I took the opportunity to leg sweep him and hit him with one of my fallen erichma sticks. He was out cold.

Deathstroke said, "Very good, but you can't always rely that a distraction will appear when you need it."

I bowed and said, "I will do better Master."

Deathstroke said, "Tie him up. The light wishes to speak to him."

I bowed again and said, "As you wish master." I easily tied the knots of rope around Nightwing's wrists. I tightened it all the way.

Deathstroke hefted him over his shoulder and led the way to his ship. He tossed him in the cargo hold and said, "Watch him."

I bowed once more and wondered how I could orchestrate Nightwing's escape without revealing anything to anyone. I realized that I couldn't. I heard the soft beep that told me I had a message on my wrist computer. I let out a sigh of relief.

I opened it. It read, "W, future keeps confusing as to whether NW gets caught by DS and W or not. The one with him escaping has W with T. Take that course or T will never trust W. T will learn to trust W this way, but L won't trust W ever again." I nodded. The future me often sent these messages when I was unsure what decision to make and it would alter the future. She tried not to reveal everything that could happen because of a bad decision, but I got the idea. It would be the end of the free world. Those countries where dictators ruled, the whole world would be like that, except worse.

I nudged Nightwing with my shoe. He stifled a low moan, knowing it wouldn't be taken kindly by what he thought of as his present company.

I hacked through the security measure Deathstroke had easily, wondering if I had really fooled my so called master into believing I was a faithful student. If I hadn't, then I'd have to fight him. I could win, probably, hopefully. If not then me and Nightwing were both going to die. Oh well, it's not like I hadn't faced that eventuality before.

Nightwing looked up at me and asked, "What do you want?"

I disabled the final security measures and said, "You're not going to meet the Light right now. In fact, we're leaving."

Nightwing raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why should I trust you?"

I said, "You don't really have any other choice, unless you really want the light to get a hold of you. Besides, I purposefully failed at tying you up. Do you really think Deathstroke would let someone he taught be that incompetent at anything? I suggest you decide soon, since I'm getting off of this plane with or without you, since he'll try to kill me either way."

Nightwing asked, "Why join him if you planned on leaving?"

I said, "You must have wondered why your intelligence seemed to magically get better over the last couple of months. There's a reason behind that. It's me. Now, if you excuse me, there's going to be ten more seconds before Deathstroke can put this thing on autopilot and come down here to stop me from escaping." I wouldn't really leave without him. He was my mentor, whether he knew it or not.

Nightwing followed me reluctantly. I was tapping on my supposedly stolen Wayne Tech holographic computer. Not that it was stolen. Not that it hadn't been a gift for my eighth birthday. Not that breaking through even one of the firewalls would show someone that read code as a second language like Nightwing to know exactly who I was. Not that I really cared about the undercover bit right then.

I tossed a parachute at Nightwing and slid one on, manually overrode the outside door control with practiced ease, and leaped out before even clipping my parachute onto my small frame. I easily performed the simple movements in the air. I turned to see Nightwing falling above me. I turned back over and angle my body towards the now rapidly approaching ground. At the correct height, I angled back up, slowing my decent. I waited another couple of yards before pulling the string on my parachute.

It opened black as my Wraith costume. At this time of night it would be near impossible to see, even from my position beneath it. The average person wouldn't know where it was. Bats are not average. I could hear the different wind flow twenty feet above me. I could hear the second sixty feet above that. Nightwing could easily capture me now. I don't really care. I just dream of a time when I stop getting messages from my wrist computer. I dream of a time when I'm done with this quest the future me has me on. I dream of a day when I can relax in the light as much as I do in the shadows I call home.

I got out of my parachute ten feet from the ground and rolled to prevent injury. Nightwing did the same. I watched our parachutes fly off. I look around quickly. I knew exactly where we were. That didn't mean I could let Nightwing know I knew we were only forty yards from the entrance to the batcave. Besides, I wasn't a Bat anymore. I gave that up the day I ran away.

It was only through sheer force of will that I didn't head straight to the batcave. Every step I took towards Gotham felt like another away from my family, my friends, my home. I felt Nightwing tackle me from behind. I heard him coming, but I let it happen.

He growled, "Who are you?"

I said, "Wraith, one of few people alive today that can claim to be of the shadow rather than in the shadow."

He growled, "Why did you help me?"

I said, "I don't really like being manipulated by Deathstroke, nor do I have aspirations to get to a high rank in the Light. Besides, I was planning on betraying Deathstroke since the day I joined him. You just happened to be a deciding factor in the when side of things."

Nightwing growled, "Where did you get that computer?"

I said, "I'm a thief. Where do you think I got it?" I even lie when I imply things. This is just peachy.


	9. I deliberately did not title this 9

"Did you see? The circus brat got his own charity case." Some would say. Others would ask, "Who's the little cute one? Oh she's his daughter? I'm glad they finally managed to straighten out one of the Wayne family." I wished I could be brave enough to do some of the crazy things Dick had at my age. The thing is, I was a coward. I spent as much of the party as possible near one of the few people at them that I actually trusted. It was usually Dick, but sometimes he was unavailable.

I was heading through the crowd during one of the rare moments when I was more than three feet from someone I trusted. I was really thirsty, but the waiter's trays only had wine on them. The water could be found on a table close to the front entrance. I was almost there when the man ran into me, accidentally spilling his drink all over himself.

He cried out, "Look what you made me do! Do you know how much this suit cost?"

I managed to get out through my fear, "I'm sorry sir."

He yelled, "Sorry isn't going to fix my favorite Armani suit." I saw his hand coming towards me, and I instinctively flinched away from him.

I said, "I'm sure there's something someone can do to fix it."

He said, "You can't get wine stains out of Armani! You little idiot, you will fix this." I saw the grab coming. There were people behind me, so I couldn't escape into the crowd. There was nothing I could do. One hand grabbed the front of my dress. The other crumpled into a fist, swinging towards my rib cage. I shut my eyes and braced for a hit that never came.

I heard Dick growl in a tone I had only ever heard Bruce use once when Jason got kidnapped, "Let Her Go." I opened my eyes to see that he had grabbed the arm of the man about to hit me.

The man, who I now realized was a little younger than Dick, asked, "What are you going to do about it Grayson?" They were glaring at each other.

Jason seemed to appear out of nowhere to my right, though I knew he had been standing by a fireplace on the other side of the room. He must have heard or noticed the confrontation. Barb appeared on my other side in the dark green dress that made her eyes seem an even brighter green. She had been talking to a group of older men about the police force's failing to protect the city's youth. I guess she was wrong.

A couple of the young man's friends appeared at his sides. They were burlier than we were. There were six friends and the young man, which put the odds firmly in our favor. A nice older gentleman that had struck up a conversation with me before came out of the crowd and said, "Tate, let go of her."

Tate, apparently the name of the man grabbing my dress, said, "Butt out Fox. This is our fight." It was only then that he noticed the batglares on Jason's, Barb's, and Dick's face. He stepped back a half step, pulling me part of the way with him.

I let my feet slide into a fighting stance as I went. The look of fear that had been in my face turned into the fierce determination I was now willing to show, since he wasn't planning on letting go anytime soon. He saw my look last, though for some reason it was because of it that he made up his mind.

He sent one more glare Dick's way, said, "This isn't over," and left with his friends.

I said to Lucius Fox, which could only be who the older gentleman was, "Thank you."

Lucius said to me, "Your family did all the work. I was just a voice of reason." His eyes crinkled as he smiled.

I sent a dazzling smile back, though it wasn't real. The scene before Dick had shown up was all to familiar. It still scared me. My face didn't show any of that though. I had been putting on masks since I was three. This one was no different from the rest.

Lucius seemed happy as he went back into the crowd. The smile didn't drop off my face until Dick pulled me into a hug. I still didn't know how he could know that the happy mask that covered my face was a facade. That was okay though. He was my dad. It was his job to know such things.


	10. I deliberately did not title this 10

I would have sat back and watched the whole thing with amusement if the event happening in front of me wasn't happening. The problem was, it was right in front of me. There was no way it couldn't be real.

I had only been keeping an eye on the Injustice League because R'as was in his yearly kill Wraith mode. I had to get out of there to protect my own life. I had informed the Justice League on the plot I had found and sat back to watch them totally defeat the Injustice League. Unfortunately, that's not what happened.

It was all going great until Robin III got grabbed by Joker. He got tied up before he could fight back. Joker already had a crowbar in one hand and a knife in the other.

Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl were all distracted by other villains. They hadn't even realized Joker was there yet, or they would have found a way to divert themselves from their battles and take on the worse villain. Any Bat that had lived through what happened to Robin II wouldn't have been able to control themselves.

I launched myself out of the shadows, easily going through the rest of the crowd without any of them noticing, in the time it took Joker to swing his crowbar back in preparation to hit Robin III. He didn't even see me coming. Not that anyone had in the year I had been away from my home and family.

My year of solitude. My year of mourning. My year of learning how to fight assassins better than anyone else in the world. My year of improving my silent movement to the point that I could sneak passed Batman if I had to. It was over today, even if the mask was still on my eyes I would at least know they were alright, even if they didn't know I was alright.

The death trap stuck on my eyes by R'as al Ghoul as a particularly cruel joke. He hadn't even cared who I was. He had decided it was a fit punishment. I couldn't get it off without killing myself in the process. I was stuck as Wraith. It was better than what had happened to Jason.

I easily ripped the crowbar from the Joker's hands and leg sweeped him. You can say what you want about nine year olds not being able to take down the big villains. It won't stop me from taking the Joker down faster than any one ever had. A broken leg to keep him from running. A pair of broken hands to keep him from fighting. A broken heart still not mended. Revenge really isn't as sweet as any one claims it is.

I saw the bat-a-rang flying towards me. I easily caught it and used it to cut Robin's bonds. I took apart Joker's gun, and left it as a simple signature before disappearing. It was Wraith's usual signature. I had to use it if I wanted them to connect me to my previous heroic acts.

It wasn't like Wing or anyone else would be able to make the connection between me and Blue Jay. Besides, R'as had told me if the words, 'I am Blue Jay', ever passed my lips the mask would release it's poison. It would be a short and painful death. He figured that much out for himself. That was when I started going after the Shadows specifically with a vengeance.

I saw Batman make it over to Robin III. I stayed in the shadows, wanting to be sure the guy was alright. I was pretty sure I had gotten to him before the Joker could hurt him to bad, but I had lost sight of him a couple of times as I made my way across the room.

Nightwing hung back a little, but still rushed towards his little brother. I really wanted to leave the shadows at that moment, but I doubted Nightwing would like a random kid latching onto him. Even if he did recognize me, the mask's programming was unhackable. It was designed by the best. Then it was turned against me.

I heard Ms. Martian ask Nightwing, "Do you know who that was?"

Nightwing said, "That might have been our informant."

Beast Boy asked, "If they were that good at fighting, then why wouldn't they help us before?"

Nightwing said, "I don't know." It was then he saw the neatly disassembled gun. I had taken part of the trigger assembly, making it impossible to operate the gun. He had seen it before when he had caught glimpses of me taking down assassins once when the team had decided to visit Infinity Island and find out what they could. Nightwing had been the only one to see it though. I had made sure of that in my own way.

Impulse ran towards his fallen friend, but Flash caught his shoulder before he could. He was a smart man. Impulse might not have come out alive.

Robin III stood up, with the help of his mentor. He limped towards the waiting batwing.

The Justice League and the Team all left. It was only when I had heard the last engine wine into the distance that I stepped out of the shadow. It was only after I went flying through the air that I realized Nightwing must have stayed behind. Normally, with that height and distance, I would have done a quad. I almost did. Instead, I turned only enough that I could push against one of the sides of the building and land on my feet, ready to fight off another attack.

Nightwing asked, "Care to explain why you stepped in when you did?"

I said, "I met a Robin once. The second one. I didn't want to see another suffer his fate. You seem to lose enough sidekicks without my tips. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't because of one of them that you lost another." Lie. I just couldn't stand to watch my, well, technically he was my uncle, and he was older than me, but he wasn't as good at martial arts, so I guess he was just Robin for now, get killed by the Joker when I could stop it.

Nightwing stiffened when I said, 'you seem to lose enough sidekicks without my tips.' He looked like he wanted to kill me. That made sense. There was one thing you learned quickly to avoid picking at. That was the relationship between any bat and their mentor or any bat and their protege. It was a dangerous business.

Nightwing said, somehow remaining tactful in the face of his anger, "That kind of desperation doesn't usually come from fear in my experience."

I said, "Fear is a powerful motivator." Truth, though at the same time it wasn't. I just couldn't say a word of the truth it seemed without getting myself killed.

Nightwing said, "That it may be, but breaking a leg and two hands in less than three moves doesn't seem like fear. If I had to call it anything, I'd say it was revenge."

I said, "If it was, it wasn't as sweet as people claim it is."

Nightwing asked, "Will you tell me what the revenge was for, or will I just have to beat it out of you?"


	11. I deliberately did not title this 11

These ten things I knew to be true:

1-Lessons always come with pain

2-There is no escape

3-You must do as _she_ says

4-Rules are constantly changing

5-You must not speak back

6-You must obey

7-You've never been anywhere else

8-You are nothing more than a code

9-If you do as you're told nothing bad will ever happen to you

11-_They_ lie all the time

That's right, I skipped ten. It needed it. Ten must never be spoken, written, or even thought. As far as I was concerned, ten wasn't even a number any more. How then, have I managed to repeat it so many times already? There's a reason why I keep using pass tense.

White. It felt wrong in ever conceivable way. They tried to tell me white was my friend. I was still convinced that this was a lie. I hung onto every piece of black I could find. I tried to keep them hidden, but they would find them and take them.

I heard _her_ familiar voice. I didn't know why I called _her her_. Most of the others called _her_ Doctor.

_She_ called, "2 Alpha R Alpha."

I rolled off my bed. I was on the top bunk of a triple decked bunk bed, but I still landed on my feet with great ease. I had managed to turn a couple of times in the air before I did. I wasn't supposed to like the chemical that surged through my body whenever I did something like that. I did anyway.

_She_ said, "Follow."

I didn't want to, but I wasn't supposed to have opinions. I wasn't supposed to have a brain. I wasn't supposed to think in straight lines. I wasn't supposed to be able to read. I wasn't supposed to be able to write. I wasn't supposed to understand. I still did. _They_ said I was broken. I knew that was a lie the same way I knew that number ten was the truth.

I heard the explosions. _She_ had never told me exactly what I was supposed to follow. I wasn't supposed to be able to think around commands. That didn't stop me from doing it. I ran towards the noise. _She_ took me out before I could get far.

It was supposed to be routine. Nothing about this could possibly be routine. I slipped down another hallway, looking for any sign of the scientists that had to have used the horrific torture devices I had already seen. They looked like something I would catch Z drawing on a bad night when she couldn't get the pictures of the tortures inflicted on her out of her head.

She was still missing. Nightwing couldn't do anything about it. Officer Grayson could do even less. Richard Grayson hadn't truly smiled in months. The Team wondered why I wasn't as happy any more. I hadn't told any of them about the young girl so good at hiding that the papers hadn't even managed to figure out who she was yet.

I rounded another corner when I saw the familiar woman, who had appeared so many times on bits of paper at the kitchen table, I could hardly believe she was real. Z was always good at remembering the little details, so I knew it could only be Harrier, even without the dark sunglasses that usually adorned her face.

I took her down before I even saw the little girl in her arms. The too young girl in her arms. She opened her eyes. The briefest hint of recognition crossed her eyes before she leaped out of my arms, frightened by me most likely. She seemed to be waiting for something.

Harrier groaned, "2 Alpha R Alph Alpha 8 3 Lambda Lambda Alpha, remember number 2!"

2 Alpha R Alph Alpha 8 3 Lambda Lambda Alpha replied, "No, you lie. There has to be a way out."

I had heard those words come from her throat before during the worst of nights. I said, "There is, if you'll trust me enough to try."

Harrier groaned, "2 Alpha R Alpha, if you try you'll face number 1."

2 Alpha R Alpha said, "You're pain holds no fear for me." She took a step towards me. I offered my hand, and, after a moment's hesitation, she took it.

He lied only twice. Neither time was he speaking to me, though he looked at me as he pushed a button on a small machine in his ear. I had recognized him from those wildest dreams where _they_ had lost a fight. Those distant wishes where I was free. I wished that they would be true as he led me through the bright white hallways, somehow just as white as they were before.

"_Wing where have you been?" Kid Flash had asked._

_Nightwing replied with a smile that seemed a little brighter than usual, "Just some stuff to take care of in the Haven. I haven't finished it yet, so I need to get back there soon. Didn't you say something about a mission you urgently needed help on."_

_Kid Flash said, "I need help getting a father's day present for Flash. I already got one for my dad, but I figured Flash deserved one too, so what should I get him?"_

_Nightwing seemed to be caught off guard for a minute, than a knowing smile filled his features. He suggest to Kid Flash, "Give him a coupon to his favorite restaurant. I got to go."_

_Nightwing stepped back through the Zeta Beam through which he had arrived moments before._

_Artemis asked, "What was that about?"_

_Kid Flash shrugged and said, "Probably just Wing being Wing. I probably gave him an idea for what he'll get Bats or something."_

_Artemis said, "He seemed different."_

_Kid Flash said, "I guess he did seem a bit happier than usual. He'll tell us why when he's ready. He always does."_

I heard Nightwing call in that he had found someone. He said he'd take her somewhere, but I was a bit preoccupied at the time. He sounded hoarse or something.

I asked as I surged through another round of robots, "You okay dude?"

Nightwing responded after a moment's hesitation, "I'm fine. Keep going. I'll meet up with you guys later."

I kept fighting, never thinking to wonder why, for once in over a year, I could hear some slight hint of happiness in his voice.

_Ms. Martian asked, "Hey Robin, have you noticed anything different about Nightwing? He seems...happier. Did he meet someone new?"_

_Robin laughed, "You mean he hasn't told you guys yet? Low blow! Ha, I can't wait to see the look on your face."_

_She watched the memory again and again, wondering what the second Robin had meant during her last conversation with him._

I could see the shadows outside. I didn't know how I knew they were in the shadows, but I did. I could almost sense someone within them, but that didn't make sense. I had five senses. I would have found a sixth during one of the tests. I realized that I could actually see and hear someone else in the shadows that somehow felt like home. I shrunk away from them, trying to get Nightwing between me and them. Wait, who was Nightwing?

The girl was small. She had short black hair. She wore white clothes. Nightwing seemed to stand protectively in front of her, allowing her to cower in his shadow. She seemed to almost disappear herself. That didn't make sense. I could tell she was human. Normal humans couldn't disappear in shadows so small. Than again, Nightwing didn't leave an entire mission for just anyone. I was in camo mode though. Neither of them should have been able to see me.

I asked, "Who is she?"

Nightwing answered, barely fighting back the growl he seemed to want to unleash on me for keeping him there a second longer than he had to be, "A friend. I took down a dangerous villain inside. You might want to keep an eye on her."

I easily drifted inside, following the cryptic instructions he had left for how to find her.

_It was the fifth time in a row that week. I didn't complain. I didn't yawn more than usual. I made sure she couldn't tell how tired I was. She needed to know she could come to me if she needed to. I woke up the minute I heard the first whimper. I had become a much lighter sleeper recently. I got up quickly and walked into her room. I could see her shaking, fingering one of the many long faded injuries she had gotten._

_She had told me once that she could remember everyone of them in full detail. Her teachers had noticed she had a photographic memory. If only it would have skipped the pain that seemed to infuse her whenever she had a nightmare._

_It wasn't long before she woke up, shouting something in one of the many languages she had been forced to learn. I understood many of them, but she knew more than even I understood. That was saying something._

_I pulled her quickly into my arms. I rubbed circles into her back and ran my fingers through her long hair. She seemed to calm down almost immediately, but I stayed until she fell back asleep, and left only reluctantly then._

_I managed to fall back asleep only to hear another soft whimper. I gave up and took my pillow with me, so I could sleep on the floor or in the soft chair next to her bed. She needed any comfort I could give her. She deserved to be able to live without fear._

Nightwing. It was an odd name to say the least. It came from a kryptonian...what on earth is a kryptonian? Why did I seem to know something about these words I had never heard?

Could this be...no. This would just turn out to be another to vivid dream. This had nothing to do with numbers that did not exist where they were supposed to. This had nothing to do with anyone named Achilles. This had nothing to do with someone whose name was also a curse.

I had called the batwing while we were still inside. Omega Alpha R Alpha seemed to have the same flash of recognition, but this time it was followed closely by fear.


	12. I deliberately did not title this 12

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you were being robbed? Maybe the person robbing you is someone you know, but they don't recognize you. Maybe that person needs help that you know they need. Maybe telling that person you can help them is more likely to get you and your family hurt. How is a nine year old supposed to make that sort of decision? Basically, the moral of the story is, everyone should just skip having crazy uncles that don't know them.

I held my hands up and said, "Alright, I'll give you my jewelry, but you've got to make me a promise."

The easily recognizable man in red said, "You make it sound like you're the one with the bow and arrow."

I said, "I might as well be, what with how you're holding that thing. One of my dad's best friends showed me how to shoot a bow once. I can tell you're holding it all wrong."

Red Arrow said, "So now you know more than your robber."

I said, "I know you could get way more money if you just skipped the robbery and went straight to kidnapping me. I'm sure my grandfather would pay a fortune to get me back. Then again, what with his connections, he'd probably get every penny back before you could buy more heroin. Not that he'd really care about the money, but I have a feeling my dad won't care to hear who exactly he got it back from."

Red Arrow asked, "What are you talking about kid?"

I said, "You're obviously not the sharpest crown in the box, or you would have realized that I either stole these jewels, I'm holding onto them for a really stupid friend, or I come from money. I'm going to assume you're smart enough to realize it's got to be the third one, and the only man in Gotham rich enough to let his nine year old granddaughter out of his sight when she's got about a thousand dollars worth of diamonds on her is one Bruce Wayne. Now, if you follow that line of thinking, then you'll realize he only has one son old enough to have a kid, making me Zaraizabella Grayson-Wayne."

Red Arrow's eyes widened in shock. Apparently, my dad had told him his identity. That could work to my advantage here.

I continued, "Now, based solely upon the fact that you looked shocked at this revelation, I'm going to assume my dad told you some stuff Red. You see, I really don't like getting robbed, and it's obvious you need help, so I suggest you find it sooner rather than later because my dad is going to walk out that door before you have time to make it look like you were never here."

Red Arrow looked at the door I had nodded towards. He saw it beginning to open up, saw the motorcycle stashed nearby, and saw the grappling gun I had managed to slip out of my utility belt and onto the ground without him noticing. He grabbed it, pointed it at one of the nearby buildings, and let it carry him forward.

Dick came out as expected. He asked, "Zara, are you okay?"

I said, "Yeah, I just needed some air."

Dick said, "You couldn't have picked a worse ally to get some air in."

I shrugged and said, "That might have affected my choice in allies. This is where it happened to him, isn't it?"

Dick said, "Yep, welcome to crime ally. It's been notoriously crime free since then, but to us it will always be crime ally."

I said, "Come on, lets go back inside before someone notices our absence."

Dick smiled and led me inside.

I didn't forget what had happened in that ally though. I had a feeling Red Arrow would do the right thing after almost robbing his best friend's daughter.

A year later

I stalked into the Zeta Beam. Superman had only just now dined to tell me exactly where my family had gone...over the phone...by leaving a message.

I growled, "Override BJ19832" The Zeta Beam clicked on. I felt the uncomfortable tingling sensation, and then I was stalking out of the Zeta Beam in Mount Justice.

I was immediately attacked by three different heroes. I was so mad I barely managed to restrain myself enough not to attack them. I growled, "Stop." They wisely listened.

Ms. Martian asked, "Who are you?"

I said, "Blue Jay, next question."

Superboy asked, "How did you get in here?"

I said, "I have an override code, next."

Kid Flash asked, "How do we know we can trust you?"

I said, "Because, I just want to get my mentor back, preferably along with the rest of the Batclan."

Aqualad asked, "Who is your mentor?"

I said, "Nightwing."

Kid Flash said, "Nightwing never told us he had a protege."

Red Arrow stepped forward from where he had been leaning against a couch. He said, "She's telling the truth."

Artemis asked, "How do you know?"

Red Arrow said, "I met her on accident once."

I said, "Now, if you excuse me, I think I'll go find my mentor now." I stalked over to the computer, programmed in the coordinates I knew he would be at due to a tracker he had activated, and went back through the Zeta Beam.


	13. I deliberately did not title this 13

I kind of wanted to kill everything and everyone around me at that moment. I settled for taking down every villain in sight and several of the ones out of it. Getting electrocuted, even a minor electricution, had fried what had been supposed to be a short term death trap. A week at most, R'as had promised when he forced me to put it on or watch the entire Team die. I didn't stop until all the villains were down, and I almost didn't stop them.

I wouldn't have, if Nightwing hadn't said, "Wraith, stop!"

I followed the order, forcing my self to accept reality. I was stuck in a trap of my own making, that I had been shoved into by R'as al Ghoul. It wasn't like I could do anything about it now. I had to accept it and move on. It wasn't like I had really planned out an entire day a night and a day to build up the courage to tell Nightwing. I guess he would just assume Zaraizabella Grayson-Wayne died.

Three months later

Nightwing asked, "Wraith, do you want to patrol with me?"

I shrugged and replied, "Sure." We had been patrolling Blüdhaven more and more together of late. I guess Nightwing had decided I needed someone to pull me out of the dark place I had fallen into, since I still couldn't get the stupid mask off my face.

Two hours into patrolling Blüdhaven

Red Hood seemed to come out of nowhere. He somehow managed to fight Nightwing and I at the same time. It probably had something to do with how distracted we both were by our private pains. I hadn't told anyone about the mask yet. Nightwing hadn't told the Team about Blue Jay yet.

Red Hood said, "Some one needs to clear the air between the two of you. Due to the fact that the younger of you is in a death trap that'll kill'm the second he tries, I suppose it's understandable, but seriously. There are ways around stuff that apparently neither of you can see."

Nightwing asked, "Wraith, what is he talking about?"

Red Hood continued, "You're both idiots. Nightwing, Golden boy, you're supposed to be at the very least mildly good at detective work. I figured it out after only knowing Wraith an hour. I expect better. It's been five months. You've been spending more time with him, and yet you still can't put two and two together. Do you realize that he's basically let the mask entirely drop off, even if he can't really take it off? Can you be a bigger idiot?" He glared at Nightwing. Then he looked to me and said, "And Wraith, just because your mentor is being an idiot doesn't give you an excuse to give your life to save the Team. You're nine. You can't just throw your life away because you value yourself so little."

Nightwing said, "I still don't get it."

Red Hood said, "That's because you can't see what's right in front of your face apparently. This is the only reason why I intervened. If I hadn't told you, then you probably wouldn't know I was me. So, here I am, with a couple of supposedly great heroes, who I just took down with ease. You're both obviously distracted by something because Wraith here didn't even notice me following him around Infinity Island and neither of you noticed I was following you all night."

I asked, "What makes you think I didn't notice you?"

Red Hood looked at me. Then he laughed. Then he pulled out a gun and aimed it at Nightwing. He said, "Dude, if you still haven't gotten it, I will kill you."

Nightwing asked, "Red, what are you talking about?"

I saw the trigger about to be pulled. I was pretty sure I had heard the slightly different click that meant that the safety was on.

Still, I could help both of their cases at the same time. I pulled a classic, Blue Jay only, move. It was one of those that even Nightwing couldn't figure out how I did it. I went from my position on the ground, to flying through the air, to having the gun in my hand, to having the gun taken apart in my hands, and finally to landing on the ground on the other side of Nightwing.

Red Hood said, "if you still haven't gotten it now, I have a couple of loaded guns with the safety off."

Nightwing looked at me, then back at Red Hood, then back at me, then at the disassembled gun in my hands.

I said, "That's it, he's not Nightwing."

Red Hood nodded in agreement. This is where we brought out the knock out gas.


	14. I deliberately did not title this 14

There comes a point in a shadow's life that they want to move into the light so bad they can almost feel it. That was how I felt during the week approaching the one year anniversary of leaving my home, my friends, my family, my dad behind. I could barely stand to be in the mountain at all. I would spend as much of my time as possible on Infinity Island. I knew I cracked down there to. It got to the point that when I showed up in R'as throne room, looking for a fight with as many assassins as possible, he asked if I was okay. I waited for him to send his assassins after me, but by that point the answer was obvious. No, I was not okay.

Nightwing said the third night, "Wraith, I get kind of worried when R'as calls me to tell me you're going crazy for no apparent reason. Is there something you need to tell me?"

I wanted to scream, "Yes, this mask that I've got strapped to my face is a death trap! It won't let me tell you who I am! I just want to go home!" Instead, I said, with as much calm as I could muster, "I'm fine."

Nightwing asked, "Then why the call from R'as? He seemed pretty desperate to get you off the island. Usually, he just leaves vague death threats. The fact that he actually called me is kind of scary."

I shrugged and said, "I might have gone into his throne room and waited for him to send all of his assassins after me. I came out alright, but it did freak him out."

Nightwing said, "I thought you usually just observed and graffiti"

I said, "I do. I guess it was just pent up stress." I tried to brush it off and go to the gym.

Nightwing continued, "Robin mentioned you haven't held back as much on missions. You're making fewer and fewer snippy comments and taking down villains much faster."

I shrugged and said, "I guess I just feel unchallenged." Now I was planning on taking out the lack of a proper challenge on a couple of robots in the gym or maybe a punching bag.

Nightwing said, "See, the thing is, you usually get into these extensive chess like battles with R'as. That was part of the reason why he called. He said something about you taking your queen into open combat to early in the game, yet somehow still putting him in check mate."

I just shrugged again and attempted to go to the gym, deciding it was definitely the punching bag. Nightwing put his hand on my shoulder. I flinched, and got really really really really close to attacking him. I barely managed to just take a deep breath in and out. Nightwing seemed unsatisfied with this. He still attacked first.

I hadn't really spared with him since before I left. I was still focusing entirely on martial arts, but for once, I let the mask slip a little. I threw in a couple of gymnastics moves. I realized then my entire problem came from not only being away from my mentor, but the one thing that was uniquely ours. I lost, but the second I was pinned, I shot over his shoulder, locked the door to the gym, turned off all recording devices, and satisfyingly flew. The muscles were still there. It wasn't like I didn't still use them every day. They just had to remember how to do the moves I knew how to do.

I didn't stop until the banging on the door sounded dangerously serious. Then I drained three water bottles, turned the surveillance back on, and walked out of the gym calmly, and quite satisfied that no one would ever know what I had done in there. The Team just stared at me for a second, before going back to their usual activities, some of them going into the gym.

Nightwing said, "I take it you figured out what you were missing."

I said, "Mostly." There was still a death trap attached to my face, but whatever. At least I had figured out a way to fly.

It was about a month after the first time Wraith locked himself in the gym that he made a mistake. He checked everything only once, rather than his usual twice. He also forgot to check the vents, but he seemed almost as desperate to get in their as the first time. He seemed stressed about something. I was taking out my own stress with trying to solve the mystery of what on earth he did in the gym when he locked himself away. All I knew was it wasn't meditating.

What I saw instead, astounded me. It explained every time he had locked himself in the gym perfectly. It explained why he'd do it after some missions and not others. It explained why what he did calmed him down. It explained why he sometimes didn't act anything like a guy. It explained why he often felt uncomfortable working with the team. It explained why he didn't trust easily. The only thing it didn't explain was why he was still Wraith after a year and two months.

Wraith seemed to fly on the gym equipment. Wraith spent more time off of it then on it. Gravities tyranny seemed to leave him for a moment. Wraith saw me part of the way through the twelfth quad I saw him pull. Wraith still successfully landed it.

Wraith said, "You're probably angry at the very least and at the very most feeling like killing me."

I said, "Not quite. I'm more confused as to why."

Wraith pointed at the mask and said, "It helps to have a death trap stuck between your eyes by the Light. It's not like I could be me either way. Besides, I was worried you'd be mad." She had turned off the voice scrambler. I should have made the connection months ago. It was blatantly obvious now. Hind sight was twenty twenty. There was a flash of purple light, and suddenly, she wasn't there any more.

There's a lesson Superman once learned. It was a simple one really. You don't get between Bat and it's mentor or protege that have recently been reunited. They will take you to the brink of death with only a look. Now, the Light was about to learn that lesson from to Bats that had been separated for a record amount of time. One of whom was already mad at them for putting her in a death trap. The other was mad at them for putting her in said death trap.

The heroes that came after Nightwing's and Wraith's rampage could barely believe their eyes. Most of them had never seen a bat hold back nothing. It was a scary sight. The boys followed Nightwing's path. Robin gazed in wonder at how much damage he did. Bats suppressed their emotions most of the time. There was a high possibility that this was the entire rage he had worked up at being unable to find Blue Jay for so long and have her ripped away.

The girls followed Wraith. Batgirl put two and three together during the trip, easily ending up with eight. They were surprised by the scene they saw when they got to the control room of the Light's base, mainly because they could see all the boys and girls there. Nightwing and Wraith stood ready to attack.

Lex Luthor commented, "Wraith, you do remember we are the ones that put you in that mask. I'm sure I could arrange to have it deliver it's charge now rather than wait for you to slip up." With everyone staring at Wraith, no one noticed Nightwing's fingers flying over the keyboard to his computer.


	15. I deliberately did not title this 15

It was the end of the world. The Reach was going to destroy the world. I knew something the rest of the team didn't though. I knew that the Reach weren't the only ones that needed to be watched. These machines would be shut down by the League, but it would be my job to insure that when War World left, it would have an agent on it. In such a familiar way, I left a note for Nightwing. This one wasn't as mushy as the last one. It was just letting him know where Wraith was disappearing to so necessarily.

Batman saw me heading towards the Zeta Beam I had already programmed for the coordinates I knew the machine was at.

He said, "You know I've figured it out."

I said, "I'd love to stay and chat, but War World needs a Shadow to look after it."

Batman said, "There are ways out of that mask."

I said, "None that won't kill me and anyone touching it at the time of removal. Besides, it's not like I haven't dropped him enough clues. He just refuses, as he always has, to see what's right in front of him."

Batman said, "If he does find out, he'll never forgive me for not stopping you."

I said, "Hey, I'm a shadow. It's not like even you were ever able to see me when I didn't want to be seen or find me when I didn't want to be found. Besides, if I show up, I'll throw the numbers off."

Batman said, "So you'll just disappear again."

I said, "No, this time you'll know where I am. I'm going to War World." I dodged past him and went into the Zeta Beam. It announced for what could have been the last time, "Wraith B36."

The second crisis was averted. Vandal Savage was locked up. Klarion was about as locked up as he could ever get. Wraith had come back. He seemed somehow darker after his time in space. He didn't play as many pranks. He seemed resigned to something that had happened to him.

I went over to the ten year old boy and said, "Wraith, it's time for your debrief."

He nodded and followed me easily to one of the small rooms we used for such things. He flipped into one of the chairs, taking off his lower mask as he went. He let the deep hood that usually fell over his upper mask fall back as he landed. His cape went over the back of the chair.

I asked, "What happened?"

Wraith said, "I stuck to the shadows mostly. I'm assuming you got my multitude of reports since the world is still as it should be. I mentioned everything in those."

I clarified, "I mean why the change in attitude? You've usually played a couple of pranks on people by now."

Wraith looked genuinely sad. He usually hid that kind of emotion. I saw a bit of water leek out from under his upper mask. Suddenly, it was off his face, and on the floor next to him. He was shaking, as if from an electric shock.

I yelled, "Wraith."

He stopped shaking and said just loud enough for me to hear, "Lex Corp tech always was crap." Then he passed out. Except he wasn't a he. I saw those unmistakable sky blue eyes she had hidden for the past two years for only an instant, but I knew the truth.

I checked her pulse. She was alive, but only barely. I saw her concealed utility belt now. I reached into the pocket she had always kept a spare mask in. It still had a couple. I put one of them over her eyes and picked up the one she had so unceremoniously ripped off her face. I lifted her and carried her to the infirmary.

I checked her out. No major nerve damage. She was right. The Lex Corp mask had been designed to kill her the second she removed it or said something it didn't like. It had failed to kill her. In point of fact, all it had done was stun her.

That was when I saw a tiny bit of almost unnoticeable bat tech on one corner of her mask that would have been constantly hidden by her hood. It was designed purely to suck energy. I had seen Batman working on it once, shortly before the invasion had come to a head. He had figured it all out, and made sure that when Wraith couldn't take it any more, she wouldn't die. Sometimes, it was easy to hate and love my former mentor at the same time.

Batgirl came in and asked, "What happened?"

I explained, "The mask Wraith's been wearing for who knows how long was a death trap designed by Lex Corp. It was supposed to kill Wraith if he took it off or said something the mask didn't like. It malfunctioned, so all it did was stun Wraith."

Batgirl said, "But Wraith would have thought removing the mask was suicidal. Should we view this as an attempted suicide?"

I remembered the words Wraith had said before she let herself pass out. I said, "I think we should keep an eye on him, but beyond that, he should be okay."


	16. I deliberately did not title this 16

"Freak!" One of the tall girls called after me. She looked like she belonged on a California beach rather than a school in Gotham. Not that I belonged in a high school at all at my age. I was just to smart for my own safety. I ignored her insult and dialed in the combination to my locker. I put my books away neatly, and slammed the door shut.

I went quickly to my gym class, and changed into the scratchy uniform. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the equipment set up.

Our P.E. coach said, "I'm the gymnastics couch, so you lot are going to have an entire section on it. If you're already in gymnastics, then think of this as a second practice. The rest of you will stick with me and learn some basic moves for each. Now, can any one not on the team name these pieces of equipment?"

I raised my hand, but none of the other girls did.

The coach said, "Yes Zara."

I listed off easily, "Balance Beam, Uneven Bars, the Floor, and Vault."

The coach said, "Good. We'll be starting with the uneven bars."

I easily managed to be first in line. I put on the grips and chalked my hands expertly.

The coach said, "step up to the bar and just try to do a pull up."

I fought back an eye roll, and easily did as told.

The coach said, "I'm going to push forward on your legs, so you'll flip over the bar."

I couldn't help the eye roll this time, but I let her push me up. I realized she was pushing much to hard for my light body only when I loosened my grip slightly and went sailing over the lower of the two bars. I easily grabbed the second, and circled around it a few time to gain momentum before launching off of it as well and turning a quad.

The coach said dryly to the other girls, "Unless you won the state gymnastics tournament in Metropolis despite having recently recovered from a broken arm, you won't be able to do that."

I smiled sheepishly.

I heard another one of the popular girls say, "Freak." A group of her friends laughed.

The coach said, "You can go practice with the rest of the gymnastics team if you want."

I muttered my thanks, removed the grips, and went over to the unused floor. I started out with the routine that had won me state, but it melded into the one that won nationals, slowly becoming one that had floated around my head when I was restlessly fidgeting in my boring Geometry class. I didn't realize the actual team had crowded around until I landed a final quad, instinctively holding my arms up as you're supposed to in an actual competition.

A few of the freshmen applauded. The sophomores were in shock. The juniors looked like they were in a forced calm. The seniors looked like I had just insulted their favorite dead grandmother. The captain of the team, one of the few seniors to remain calm, came over to me and said, "just because you're good doesn't mean you have to show off." Then she stalked off.

The only good thing about the whole situation was that I hadn't done any of the unofficial moves that I could now pull.

The rest of gym class was uneventful, since I just practiced a couple of vaults. It was when I went into the locker room that I saw the problem. My locker had been defaced with the spray painted word in sharp capital red letters, "FREAK!"

I rolled my eyes and easily dialed the combination in the lock, only to find it was wrong. I checked around me once before removing the ever present bobby pin from my hair and using it to pick the lock. It was open in less than a minute. I quickly changed clothes and locked my locker again. Then I went back into the gym to wait for the bell to ring. I saw the shocked expressions of the girls responsible for switching the lock.

They said as I passed, "Freak."

I didn't really care. That is, I didn't really care until one of them shot out a foot to trip me. I let myself fall forward onto my hands, and walked forward that way until I reached the door, at which point I flipped to my feet once more. I was cocky. It was now a defining part of my personality, at least, it was as Zara. Blue Jay could be as quiet and under confident as she pleased.


	17. I deliberately did not title this 17

My first mission with the team, and I end up surround by League of Shadows assassins. They weren't the ones good enough to actually get code names like Cheshire or Sportsmaster, but still.

The rest of the Team had made it out okay. It was a Gama squad mission, supposedly easy. Nightwing would either yell at me for leaving myself behind or tell me off for trying to complete the mission alone. I was out numbered at about fifty to one. They all seemed to have some sort of blades. I planned on using both of these things to my advantage.

I melded into the shadows behind me, the black Kevlar that made up my costume helping me hide even better than usual. I leg swept the seven guys nearest to me, then moved into the shadow of another assassin. The assassins, for their part, were searching madly through the shadows. They called themselves Shadows, but they couldn't even see those that hid in them.

I knocked out another five men, then moved to a location across the room and did the same thing. There was only one overhead light on in the metal plated room, so there was a ring of light in the center of the room with plenty of shadows to disappear into.

The leader of the group called, "If you come out now, we promise not to kill you."

I took out another twenty men before letting my voice echo around the room, "If you surrender now, then I won't knock you out."

The man laughed as I took down another ten men, leaving just ten more to go. I appeared and disappeared in front of one of the men, causing him to accidentally cut one of the others arm. I took them both down. That left eight.

Three of them charged into the shadow I had disappeared into. I came at them from on top of a crate. Five left. The four other than the leader were sent into the shadow were my team mates had broken through a wall that had then been sealed shut by an explosion I created. I made sure they ended up knocking each other out.

The leader called, "Come out and fight like a man Bat." He spat the last word like an insult.

I stepped out of the shadows and said, "I will if you will." He charged me. I dodged his series of punches and kicks.

He growled, "Hold still."

I flipped over him, kicking him in the head as I went. Then I went over to the computer the entire mission had been about and hacked in. I downloaded the files to a flash drive that I then put in one of my glove's compartments.

I started tying up the assassins, removing their weapons, disassembling their guns, and other wise making them harmless. Then I sat back, pulled up my wrist computer, and started playing games on one of those free websites to pass the time.

I commented, "Took you long enough."

Beast Boy asked, "How?"

I passed him easily, ignoring his question, and going straight to the waiting Supercycle. Wonder Girl pulled out her cell phone and called in the cops before leading the rest of the team to the Supercycle.

I suppressed a yawn on the way back, wondering what time it was in Blüdhaven. I checked my wrist computer and winced. Three in the morning. Nightwing would probably debrief us for at least an hour. I wouldn't get to bed until at least four thirty. I hadn't slept at all the night before, and I could survive staying up a second night and a day without sleep, but just because I didn't need sleep didn't mean I didn't want it.

I was surprised when Nightwing dismissed us as soon as we got back, but I shrugged it off. I headed for the infirmary to give myself a once over before passing out on the nearest flat surface. I had a couple of bruises, small cut or two from the explosion I created, and one of my scars had been irritated by one of the multitude of motions I went through. I treated the simple wounds.

I wandered towards the command center, wondering where I would find Nightwing. Finding it empty, I headed towards the living room. The couch was occupied by Beast Boy, Impulse, and Blue Beetle.

Beast Boy asked, "hey Wraith, want to play a round or two?"

I said, "No thanks."

Blue Beetle said, "Come on, we'll let you win a couple rounds."

I asked, "What makes you think you'll need to let me win?" Challenge accepted, I beat them up until six in the morning. At my twelfth consecutive win in a row, I said, "I need to go train."

Beast Boy had passed out part of the way into a round two before the one we were on. Impulse yawned and nodded. Blue Beetle checked the time and said, "I have to get to school."

I said, "Good luck," and headed towards the gym. The Bats had returned to Gotham, so the gym was empty at this time in the morning. I locked the door behind me, turned off the surveillance stuff that was supposed to monitor everyone's training sessions, and took off my cape and hood.

I went straight to the uneven bars and completely zoned out for the next two hours. I heard someone knock on the gym door at eight in the morning, so I dismounted the bars, put my cape and hood back on, turned the surveillance equipment back on, and left the gym.

By this point, I was exhausted enough to be able to curl up on pretty much any surface and fall asleep. In fact, passing out where I stood sounded like a pretty good idea. I made it safely to the kitchen somehow, grabbed a coffee mug and the pot, then started to indulge my caffeine addiction. Five cups later, and I was awake enough to realize I had been hiding in the shadows this whole time, coming back out only to get the coffee pot. I turned the kitchen light on. I was still exhausted, but I could probably stay awake through the day. I had done it before without the coffee.

I had trained my body to go into something I called physical mode. The only problem being that I fought against anyone that attacked me with the same intensity I would an enemy. Spending most of my time with the shadows, this wasn't a problem. When I was with the team however, it was bad to attack everyone that touched me.

I managed to make it to the Zeta Beam without maiming anyone. I programmed in the coordinates for Infinity Island and went through. There was a group of shadows waiting for me at the usual location. I took them down with ease and headed inside. Physical mode took hold, and I honestly couldn't tell you what happened for the next six hours.

I became self aware again as I stepped through the Zeta Beam. I had plans on making it to a soft surface before passing out, but if I found none available, then I would gladly take any surface made available.

Batgirl said, "Wraith, report to debrief now."

I nodded and headed to the room. I stayed standing, hoping that would somehow keep me awake long enough for me to tell my side of the story.

Nightwing asked when I got into the room, "Wonder Girl already told me what happened before you sealed yourself in the room, but what happened after?"

I said, "I took down the fifty or so League of Shadows members, hacked into the computer, transferred all of it's files onto a flash drive, and waited for them to get me out again." I took the flash drive out of it's compartment in my glove and handed it to him.

He said something that I didn't really hear. Hearing was one of the first things to go when I was on the verge of passing out due to exhaustion. He repeated himself a couple of times. I settled for passing out in the chair I was supposed to sit down in to begin with.

I woke up two hours later. Now, after three days without sleep, I didn't take kindly to being woken up two hours after I had finally managed to catch some z's.

Impulse was asking, "Wraith, are you okay?"

I found a pillow to my right and tossed it at him. Then I stood up, went straight to my little used assigned sleeping quarters, locked the door, took off my hood and cape, and unceremoniously threw myself at the bed. I was asleep before I made it to the mattress.

Impulse zoomed into the command center and asked, "What's wrong with Wraith?"

Nightwing replied, "I've been attempting to figure that out, and I'm fairly certain he's been awake for the passed ninety-six hours."

Impulse's eyes bulged. He said, "Robin said he could stay up for three days at most. I'm pretty sure my science teacher said humans can only stay awake for three days straight without going crazy."

Nightwing said, "You're science teacher was right, which is why Wraith won't be going on missions for the next day or two. Batgirl will spend some time on Infinity Island in case anything important happens there while Wraith is incapacitated."


	18. I deliberately did not title this 18

The pain I felt was one that I couldn't find a way to express. I could feel the anger radiating off of the team and it was all directed towards me. It scared me. It felt so much like the anger I had felt from three until seven. It hurt more than any of them could understand.

I only left Infinity Island for food. I wouldn't have, except when I didn't for a few days some of them came to Infinity Island and got captured just so they could glare at me. R'as was surprisingly understanding. He knew enough. Heck, he knew I was Blue Jay, unlike a certain mentor. He knew every Bat's identity, though he told no one because he respected us. He gave me plenty to do, to keep my mind off the pain.

I hadn't had nightmares about those years in years. Now, I had one every single night.

It came to a head during one of my short visits to the cave for food. The conversation stopped when I came in, but I had heard enough. "He's worthless. Why do we even let him into the cave anymore? Maybe we should just let him get captured. I hate him. He's stupid. How could he do that? It's all his fault." Each phrase had been said by the team of heroes.

For once, I let the pain I felt radiate off of me. I let Ms. Martian feel just how badly it hurt to remember the pain that used to accompany such remarks. As they gasped, I knew that she hadn't been able to hold back the intense pain that was surging through me. I let them see the memories of the faceless woman attacking me. I let them feel what it was like to be attacked by someone you loved. It only lasted until I left the room. They hadn't been able to even express their pain until it was gone.

I grabbed enough food to last a week and left, planning on never coming back.

Nightwing stopped me in front of the Zeta Beams. He asked, "Where do you think you're going?"

I said, "It's obvious they don't want me here. Infinity Island has enough stuff going on to keep me busy. I can steal food if I really need it. Besides, it's not like any of you can understand my pain, even though you just felt it."

Nightwing said, "Some of us can."

I said, "Even then, I doubt they were beaten to near death only to be brought back to endure more pain. I doubt that they received scars whenever they were taught a lesson. I doubt that they have wounds that have festered for longer than most of them have been heroes. I doubt they have nightmares that keep them up at night because they can remember every blow. I doubt they have any reason to think of a photographic memory as a plague. I doubt they can understand what it's like to be the bad guy to protect someone else. I doubt they can understand the pain I put myself through on a daily basis just to act normal and how much it increases every time I use martial arts. I doubt they understand how comforting the shadows are. I doubt they can understand what it's like to be tormented for years by someone that's supposed to love you." With that, I disappeared into the Zeta Beam. I had hacked into it as I was gathering supplies, so for once it called, "Blue Jay B36."

Four years later

Red Hood said, "Wing, come quick."

I groaned, "What?"

Red Hood said, "I found her, and she's in bad shape. Ever see those cuts on her spine? They look fresh, just like every other scar on her. She's lost a lot of blood, and you're the only person I know with her type."

I shot up instantly and asked, "Where are you?"

Red Hood said, "She'll need League help. I'm at the Zeta Beam, but you need to get here quick. She looks to young though and this is coming from me."

I was out of bed and in my Nightwing costume in less than a minute. I was at the Zeta Beam in less than five.

Red Hood was standing there, holding the limp, most certainly to young Zara in his arms.

She looked up and me and groaned, "Dad, it hurts."

I said, "I know Blue Jay, just hang in there. I'll do everything I can to make it stop." Zara didn't like lies. If I had promised it would stop soon, that would be enough to push her over the edge.

She wasn't crying, but the pain in her eyes and the expression on her face made me know that if it was anyone else, they would be screaming out in pain.

Red Hood and I went into the out of service telephone booth together, trying to keep pressure on all the cuts, while avoiding to touch the burns.

That day four years ago, the team had needed someone to blame. Tula had died. Aqualad had 'gone rouge'. Wraith had been with Tula. She had made sure he got out alive when she died. He told Aqualad and Tempest her final words in private. It seemed to hit both boys harder than anyone else could comprehend. Tempest had quit. Aqualad had pretended to turn to the dark side.

I had put two and two together when I first saw Wraith. I had almost told her the first day that I knew who she was, but then I hadn't. I thought she blamed me for Jason, or else it was to painful for her to be around me. I knew now, after going through the things Wraith left behind, that the opposite was true. She had kept a diary, more a record, of her dreams. It stayed factual. It didn't mention her emotions at all. The lay out was simple. Most of the records read:

Nightmare

Went around without my mask and no one recognized me as Zara. Even Dick kept calling me Wraith.

They only got worse from there. I had stopped part of the way through, not daring to intrude further into her world of pain. Pain that she was feeling fresh.

Martian-Manhunter asked, "What happened?"

Red Hood said, "I don't know. I found her like this on my way to see Nightwing."

We rushed her to the medical bay where everyone with a degree in medicine started to attempt to treat her wounds. Her Blue Jay costume had to be cut off of her small body. I realized that some of the scars that had suddenly unhealed came from before she had become Wraith and after. I could only stare in shock as they treated her many wounds.

She yelled part of the way through the operation, "Nightwing, Achilles protocol, Talon, Court of Owls." Then she passed out once more.

I cursed in every language I knew.

Flash Back

Blue Jay

_I had bid R'as goodbye and left to see if there was anyway to repair what little relationship I had left with my mentor. I had just landed on a boat in Gotham when they grabbed me. One of them said, "Even if we can't have the first Gray Son of Gotham, his child will do."_

_ I tried to pretend like I didn't know anything. That was when they shot me with the laser. Then the pain hit._

Present

Nightwing

Superman was one of the first out of surgery.

He asked, "Do you have any idea how she sustained so many injuries simultaneously?"

I said, "They used to be scars. She got them before she became Blue Jay. Exactly how they all became unhealed simultaneously is a mystery to me."

The Zeta Beam proclaimed suddenly, "Override, Talon B36."

Red Hood asked, "Wait, isn't that BJ's override code?"

I nodded, and we rushed into the room. Already, Hawkwoman, who had taken over monitor duty when Martian-Manhunter had been pulled away, was on the ground. A figure that was obviously Zara in the Talon costume stood over her with a blade to her throat. She looked too olde to be Blue Jay though.

I said, "Talon."

She turned towards me. A look of confusion and half recognition crossed over her face. I knew that look meant Zara was still in there somewhere.

I said, "You don't have to do this."

Talon replied, "The court has spoken. The Bats must die."

I said, "I suggest you start with yourself then."

Again the look of confusion crossed her eyes. Talon stabbed Hawkwoman in a nonlethal way on her arm. The blade had something on it, probably poison.

Talon said, "You lie Bat." Then she leaped at me.

Superman was about to try to help. Red Hood pulled one of his guns part of the way out. I shook my head and neatly dodged the attacks I had once taught her.

Talon urged, "Fight back Bat!" She spat the last word like an insult.

Red Hood had made Superman leave carrying Hawkwoman, along with the abandoned knife she had been stabbed with. He locked down the room the second the two Leaguers got out and shut down the Zeta Beam. He turned off surveillance equipment, so we could speak freely.

I said, "I promised once never to hurt you in my right mind. I will follow that promise."

The look of confusion stayed longer this time, but Talon just pulled out a set of knives as long as her fore arms. I pulled out my erichma sticks, so I could block them.

Talon slashed at me. I blocked easily. I could see her moves coming. I knew what she was going to try before she did. It was obvious to me. Talon was so much like Blue Jay had been when I first started training her. She didn't comprehend why a minor injury would need treatment. She didn't understand how I knew exactly what she was going to do before she did, but she learned quickly.

Talon almost got under my guard with a cut. She growled, "Fight me coward."

I chuckled and said, "I think I'm doing just fine."

Red Hood said, "I bet she could still beat your socks off in Super Smash Bros Brawl."

I said, "Probably, but she'd take you out first. She'd probably use Jiggly puff to."

Red Hood said, "Low blow."

The quoted lines of conversation made Talon back off a little and shake her head, as if trying to clear it of confused thoughts.

I continued, "It's not like any of us can slip into the shadows any time we want like we live in them."

Red Hood said, "The bullies did stop calling you freak after I _talked_ to them. In fact, they all stayed far away didn't they?"

Talon asked confused, "Yes?"

Red Hood said, "Because I'm the bestest Uncle in the world."

Talon corrected mechanically, "Just best. Bestest isn't a word no matter how many times you say it." She still sounded confused.

I said, "However, aster, whelmed, and traught are words."

Talon looked at me in confusion. Then she looked at the knives in her hands. They unceremoniously dropped to the ground, along with every other blade in her possession. I saw a couple of disassembled guns fall to. She never did like guns. She would always disassemble my gun the second I got home from being a cop, no matter what time it was.

Red Hood looked at a couple of the guns, then to his coat, then back at the guns. I could almost hear him smirk under his mask. He said, "You always did hate guns."

Talon looked at him confused. Then she settled for passing out.


	19. I deliberately did not title this 19

I was immune to morphine. Not that I had told anyone. I pretended to feel the effects of the drug. I threw up because of the pain, but they assumed it was the drug. They were wrong. I laughed when Impulse told me jokes to try to cheer me up, even though it almost made me cry. I still talked with my hands, as if I couldn't feel the broken ribs. I still fed myself, even though I could feel every ounce of pain my body came because of it.

Ms. Martian came in to ask me if I needed anything. I hadn't expected her, or I would have shielded my mind, like I always do in her presence. I heard the cries of various members of the Team throughout the cave. Nightwing had been visiting at the time, telling me that Batgirl was keeping an eye on the League of Shadows for me. He fell on to one of the medical beds and had to clench his teeth to keep from screaming.

It just compounded the pain I already felt, easily doubling it. I said calmly, "Ms. Martian, you need to shield your own mind." I could feel her with drawl from my mind. I was exhausted by the increased pain and the amount of strength it took for me not to cry out. I leaned back on the pillow behind me and promptly fell asleep.

Nightwing asked Ms. Martian, "What was that?"

Ms. Martian said, "I think that was what little I could feel of the pain Wraith is in right now."

Nightwing looked at the young man on the hospital bed. He removed his lower mask and pushed back the hood that covered his upper mask most of the time. It was easy to see the pain that was etched into his face as he slept. He let out a low moan.

Nightwing took only a moment to examine the lower mask and find what he expected. A small silence generator that had no doubt blocked out screams and cries for months. Nightwing had to fight back the urge to throw the small complex piece of technology against the wall. It explained why Wraith fingered his chin before he started talking a lot of times. It explained why he was sometimes surprised that other people heard what he muttered to himself. It explained why he would fall asleep in the kitchen as often as his bed room.

Then there was the slip of paper concealed behind the tiny silencer, addressed to whoever found it after the death of Wraith. Nightwing hesitated when he saw it, but slipped it back into it's compartment, deciding to ask the boy about it later.

Three Years later

To whoever happens to search my body after my death,

If you're reading this, I'm dead. That's a wonderful thought, but there it is. R'as will definitely at least attempt to bring me back to life as a thank you for the favors I've done for him over the years. Don't let him. I don't care if I died in a hospital with cancer, out in the field saving lives, or if I finally gave up and committed suicide. I don't want to come back into a life where I give myself so much pain just to work with people that can't figure out who I am. There's a note in here for Nightwing. Make sure he gets it, or I will come back from the dead and haunt you until the end of your days.

Sincerely

Wraith

Nightwing,

If you're reading this then I died. Hopefully, you didn't have to see it. The one regret I have is never telling you the truth. If I did, then I guess I lived without regrets. If I didn't, then I'll never forgive myself, even in death. If I faked my death, well, you deserve to know anyway. I am Blue Jay. I can remember every lie I told you to convince you otherwise. I can remember every action I took to make sure you didn't find out. You have no idea how much it eats me up everyday. If I'm secretly alive out there somewhere, then I'm sorry to put you through more pain. I'm sorry. That doesn't even cover it. I hope to suffer eternal torment to start paying for the pain I've caused you. I wish you well. There's information on my wrist computer you need to read. I'll make myself forget about both this letter and it, but type your password in and you can see it. Just a message I got from a point in the distant future. I hope you understand it better than I did.

With love, your protege,

Blue Jay

Tears fell from Nightwing's eyes as he read the words hidden in Wraith's mask. His death had been a hoax, but he had left his wrist computer behind for what seemed like no apparent reason at the time. Now it was blatantly obvious. Obvious why he had acted the way he did, obvious why he had said the things he said, obvious why he had moved the way he moved. It should have been obvious before, but it was only obvious now. Hind sight was always twent-twenty.


	20. I deliberately did not title this 20

It wasn't working. More specifically, it was malfunctioning. Even more specifically, the silence generator that was supposed to turn on and off was stuck on on. Now, this wasn't actually that big a problem for me on the average day. The problem was Nightwing asked me to vocally report once a month over my wrist computer. It was kind of impossible with the silence generator. I couldn't take off my lower mask. Basically, I was caught between a rock and a hard place.

Then again, my silence generator was malfunctioning in more than one way. It had previously been programmed to silence what I said in foreign languages, since it was usually cursing. Now, I could speak in any of them I wanted. The problem again being that the second I spoke in one of them, Nightwing could have a sudden realization that I was who I was. Then again, it hadn't happened yet. I could always explain the problem in the foreign language, and hope he didn't demand I get pulled out until the generator was removed. The truth was to easy though. This was me we are talking about.


End file.
